THEGAYUK

Category: Lifestyle

  • RESTAURANT REVIEW | Smoke And Salt, Brixton, London

    ★★★★☆ | Smoke & Salt, Brixton, London

     Pop Brixton’s critically acclaimed and award-winning Smoke & Salt are now doing brunch, and in true Smoke & Salt style it’s different from any brunch menu you’ve seen before, and this is not just a tagline – it’s the truth!

    Available on both Saturdays and Sundays between 11am-3pm, the new Smoke & Salt brunch menu is a new and exciting addition to the eternally loved London brunch scene.

    Based on the ethos of ‘Modern Dining, Ancient Techniques’, founders and head chefs Aaron Webster and Remi Williams have created a menu of unusual and surprising flavours, perfect for livening up those taste buds on a morning.  The menu has been divided into three sections, which are Lighter, Richer and Sweet.

    Lighter –  ‘Guacaleeky Toast’ – sourdough, homemade avocado-free leek guac, coriander. This is what I had on a recent warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, with the leek tasting, and looking, so much like avocado – it’s surreal! And with the sprinkling of coriander on top it was a dish too good looking and beautiful to eat, but eat I did. I noticed the guy next to me had ordered this same dish, and it looked like he enjoyed it as much as I did! This dish is highly recommended by me, but it’s on the light side (good value for £7.50) – so another dish is in order. So go, and indulge and go Richer – with the ‘Steak and Eggs’ – Bavette steak, crispy new potatoes, two eggs, and sriracha cheese sauce. It is a huge dish so perfect for two to share, with the Bavette (French for Flank Steak) amazingly tender yet moist and flavourful. The potatoes were nicely well-done, and the dish was smothered with a wonderful sriracha cheese sauce – but be forewarned – this dish has jalapeños – so if you don’t like your dish spicy (me and my lunch companion were clearly not expecting for the dish to be spicy as there’s no mention of this on the menu) then ask for no jalapeños – por favor!. But bear in mind that sriracha sauce is a bit on the spicy side, but it’s bearable. At £14.00 a great value because it’s so delicious. However, the piéce de résistance, which is also in the Richer category, was the Imbhams Farm Cornbread. Wow! Amazing dish. It’s so simple – basically, it’s cornbread topped with seasonal fruit compote and butter (on the side). The cornbread is a healthy portion (and cheap at £7.50) but it’s the taste and flavour, with the compote, that makes it so so so good. It’s a bit like jelly on toast but a million times better. I was going to ask for some cornbread to take away but held back – it was that good!

    For the Sweet category, recommended is the – ‘Spiced Plantain Cake’ – seasonal fruit compote and whipped yoghurt – which we didn’t have but I am sure it is amazing!

    The drinks menu is just as tantalising.  Under ‘Refreshments’, guests can choose Iced Coffee, Grapefruit & Mint Iced Tea (very refreshing and different), Brixton Iced Coffee (with an option to add rum) or a Seasonal Bellini. There are also local lagers available including Smoke & Salt’s very own Modern IPA as well as a selection of red wines, white wines and Prosecco.

    When the sun is shining, the front terrace at Smoke & Salt is the perfect place to bask in the South London sunshine. And when it’s not, Aaron, Remi and General manager Alex, and Sue, keep the brunch-party going inside.

    They also do dinner! Choose from a selection of Fish (Ceviche, Monkfish), Meat (Pig Cheek, Grilled Spring Lamb), or Vegetarian (Spring Vegetables, Farm Cornbread, Asparagus) from their compact menu and with it have one of their many delicious cocktails or wines). Smoke & Salt is a cosy restaurant at very cosy prices.

    Also, on 17th July, Pop Brixton’s Smoke & Salt will be heading over to the stunning East London Liquor Company for a night of delicious food and boozy drinks.

    The menu, based on Smoke & Salt’s culinary ethos of ‘Modern Dining – Ancient Techniques’ will include mouth-watering dishes such as ‘Tomatoes | whey, smoked ricotta, tasted buckwheat’; ‘Grilled Pork Collar | baby beetroot, preserved orange relish’ and ‘Goat’s Curd & Berries | candied fennel, black pepper, sweet cicely’, complete with an East London Liquor Company summer cocktail on arrival.

    Each dish can be paired with a sensational East London Liquor Company tipple, curated by Brand Ambassador Mikey Pendergast and available to purchase on the night.

    The first gin, vodka and whisky distillery in East London in over 100 years, East London Liquor Company is known for their cocktail creations, highlighting their in-house made spirits.

    The dinner is £35pp and places can be booked via Eventbrite

    www.smokeandsalt.com

    The dinner will take place at:

    East London Liquor Company

    Unit GF1, Bow Wharf

    221 Grove Road

    London, E3 5SN

    www.eastlondonliquorcompany.com

    And, if all the above were not enough, Smoke & Salt just recently won the ‘Newcomer Award’ at The Cateys – an annual award presented by The Caterer, and are the most prestigious awards in UK hospitality. Accepting the award were Aaron Webster and Remi Williams, co-founders and chefs of Smoke & Salt.

    Smoke & Salt can always be found at Pop Brixton, minutes away from the Brixton tube station, and it’s open year round. It’s ideal to have brunch there on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, and especially festive with England winning their second game of the World Cup that day, but I would think any time, any day, you will find the food, both the lunch and dinner, cooked with care, sourced from local farms. The food is healthy, good-looking, amazingly tasteful, highly affordable, and just plain damn good.

    Tables should be booked in advance via the website http://www.smokeandsalt.com/

    Smoke & Salt,
    49 Brixton Station Road,
    London SW9 8PQ

    HOURS

    Dinner | Monday – Saturday 6pm-10pm
    Brunch | Saturday – Sunday 11am

     

  • Representation matters even in car parks

    Love love love this.

    Up until now if you were looking for a car-parking space and you happened to be an LGBT+ parent your representation was ZERO. Now thanks to Volvo, Westfield has got a wide range of icon representations for all different family types. From Grandparents to single mums to gay dads.

    The trial, conducted in partnership with Westfield London in Shepherds Bush where the new icons can be seen, aligns with the theme of Volvo’s TV advertising programme for the V60 – “The New Family Model”, which launches on 9 July. Over the years, the definition of family has evolved, hence the icons profile different examples of family within society, including same-sex couples, single parents and nuclear families.

    Mike Johnstone, Marketing Strategy Director, Volvo Car UK, said: “The introduction of the new V60 gives us the ideal opportunity to celebrate the modern family in all its guises. As the contemporary iteration of our mid-size family estate, the V60 perfectly reflects our human-centric approach to car design which aims to make its owners’ lives easier and safer.”

     

  • This is how you can make your very own PRIDE smoothie

    Having trouble getting enough fibre in your diet, here’s a super colourful way to do it

    We love a smoothie – and not just a Steve with the dreamy eyes and pecs you can nestle in. We love the type you can drink too. Now you can rainbow that smoothie up with this exclusive recipe, brought to you by the World Avocado Organization (WAO).

    Here’s what you’ll need

    Ingredients:

    • 2 tbsp acai powder
    • 1 litre almond milk
    • 1 pear
    • 150g spinach
    • ½ avocado
    • ½ mango
    • 75g strawberries
    • 75g raspberries
    • 4 bananas
    • 150g blueberries

    Method:

    Create each layer and store separately in the freezer for 5 minutes allowing them to settle:

    Purple: Place half a banana into the blender, add two tablespoons of acai powder, cover with almond milk and blend
    Blue: Blend together the blueberries and pear
    Green: Blend the spinach and avocado with almond milk
    Yellow: Break up two bananas into the blender, cover with almond milk and blend
    Orange: Peel and cut up an orange with half a mango, add one banana and blend with almond milk
    Pink: Add strawberries and raspberries with half a banana, cover with almond milk and blend

    Pour an equal amount of each smoothie carefully on top of one another into a highball glass – your smoothie is complete!

     

  • Stop everything M&S has a RAINBOW sandwich and its donating £10,000 to Prides

    We want, we want.

    Highstreet giant, Marks and Spencer are donating £10,000 to a number of local pride events across the UK – and have launched this delish looking rainbow sandwich.

    Giving directly to local prides, Marks and Spencer is launching their special Rainbow sandwich, which is vegan-friendly. The Roasted Rainbow Veg Sandwich is packed full of avocado and chilli squash on red pepper bread. Nom nom nom.

    And it counts as one of your five a day and only 311 calories. Win win.

    Priced at £2.50 and in stores now.

  • This pro footballer has just come out as gay

    Slowly the closet doors that lead to the sportsfield are being swung open.

    Twenty-three-year-old Collin Martin has just come out as gay, wrapped in a pride flag. Amen to that. He becomes the second Stateside pro footballer to do so. Robbie Rogers was the first in 2013.

    He made the announcement via Twitter.

    He wrote, “I am announcing for the first time publicly that I am an openly gay player in Major League Soccer,

    “June is Pride month, and I am proud to be playing for Pride, and to be playing as an out gay man.”

    Collin plays for Minnesota United for two seasons. Before that, he played for DC United. He is a midfielder.

    Despite this great news, the UK has yet to see an openly gay player come out. There are concerns that football players are scared of the consequences of coming out as gay. There are also concerns about the level of scrutiny they may receive. British tabloids have run numerous stories of a Premiership footballer who is on the cusp of coming out as gay or bisexual.

    In 2015 a betting site even opened odds on who the first footballer to come out as gay would be.

     

  • RESTAURANT REVIEW | 28-50 Wine Workshop And Kitchen, London

    ★★★★☆ | 28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen, London

    8-50 Wine Workshop And Kitchen review

    Don’t be confused by the name. 28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen is not at the address number of 28-50. It’s actually the name of the restaurant, and if you are seeking it out, it’s worth the find!

    28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen can be found in two locations in London – two trendy and expensive neighbourhoods. There is one location at 15-17 Marylebone Lane in, of course, Marylebone. Then there is the other location – in posh Mayfair – at 17-19 Maddox Street, and it was this location that a friend and I visited on a warm Thursday night.

    Instantaneously walking in we felt such a cool vibe, a good buzz. The music was good, the place was packed but not loud and the customers, and staff, all seemed very happy, and after we were done, we understood exactly what all this happiness was about, it was the wonderful food and the excellent selection of wines.

    28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen, according to its website, says that if you love wine, you will love them. It takes the traditional wine bar experience to a whole new level (hence with the word ‘wine’ in the title we can understand why). Both of their restaurants feature over 30 carefully chosen wines, so it’s not just run of the mill stuff. 28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen prides itself in the wine they sell. But they also have a wonderful, and thankfully small, food menu which makes it easier to decide what to eat.

    The Truffle Popcorn (at £4.00) is a wonderful way to start the night if you want to take your time to order. But my dining companion and I  knew right away what we wanted. I had no doubt in my mind that it was going to be the Seared Yellowfin Tuna, and I was not disappointed. It was served with artichokes, almonds, breadcrumbs and bathed in herbs and a Romesco sauce, and at £21.50, was well worth it. My friend chose the Welsh Spring Lamb – and it was a beaut! Served like a stew, there were chunks of lamb with carrots, potatoes, onions, peas and broad beans in a gravy sauce, and it was an extremely juicy and meaty dish – and it’s one I will order (at only £19.50) next time I go back.

    Of course, the main courses wouldn’t be worth their salt if they weren’t accompanied with good wine. I had an amazing, and new to the restaurant, Audacia – South African wine – which went very well with my tuna. My friend was more than delighted with his Côte du Rhône from France which he agreed went well with his lamb. These were chosen by the very friendly Sommelier who really knew her stuff. We were also given, when entering the restaurant by the super-friendly and charming host Olga, a glass each of the excellent Henriot, Souverain, Brut champagne from France. It was sweet and just what was needed after a long day. I could talk all about the wines 28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen have but you have to visit to fully understand the care that they have selected the wines on the menu.

    Of course we ate more food than just our main courses. The Thai Pomelo Salad, with coconut, lime leaves, ginger and peanuts, and very colourful and was just perfect for a warm summers evening, as is the Salmon Gravlax, served with mustard sauce and rye bread.
    Equally satisfying are the deserts. All I can say is that the perfectly cooked and amazing Apple Crumble was a highlight of the meal. and the coffee we ordered was very good too! And I have to give thanks to our waitress who was just as bubbly and friendly as the champagne!

    What’s there left to say about 28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen? Well, everything and nothing – it’s just about perfect. Whether you want a full-blown meal with wine pairing or if you just want to sit at the bar and have a glass of wine or two, 28-50 Wine Workshop & Kitchen is the perfect place. And if you want to book a party, the Maddox Street location has a full downstairs area to suit your needs.

    http://www.2850.co.uk
    28° – 50° MADDOX STREET
    OPENING TIMES
    THE BAR

    Monday – Wednesday 12pm-11.30pm (last orders 11pm)
    Thursday – Saturday 12pm-12am (last orders 11.30pm)

    THE RESTAURANT

    Monday – Wednesday 12pm-10.30pm
    Thursday – Saturday 12pm-11pm

    28° – 50° MARYLEBONE LANE
    OPENING TIMES
    THE BAR

    Monday – Wednesday 12pm-11.30pm (last orders 11pm)
    Thursday – Saturday 12pm-12am (last orders 11.30pm)

    THE RESTAURANT

    Monday – Wednesday 12pm-10.30pm
    Thursday – Saturday 12pm-11pm
    15-17 MARYLEBONE LANE
    LONDON W1U 2NE
    MARYLEBONE@2850.CO.UK
    020 7486 7922

  • CAR REVIEW | Citroën C3 Aircross Flair

    ★★★★☆ | Citroën C3 Aircross Flair

    WHAT IS IT? | DRIVING IT | CLIMB INSIDE | LIVING WITH IT | VERDICT

    Citroën’s new C3 Aircross replaces the Picasso MPV and enters the ever-so-confusing mini SUV type party. This model is the Flair S&S Puretech 110 Auto. Being a crowded party the C3 Aircross needs to be good.

    With starting prices from around £14,000 with the ‘Touch’ model, here THEGAYUK has the top of the range ‘Flair’ to tinker with.

  • We can’t wait to get our hands on this Pride cocktail by Lambrini

    Lambrini boys just want to have fun

    We’ve never seen so many pretty colours in one drink… plus it’s a drink that comes with edibles, so sensibly you’re lining your stomach before you go to town!

    Brilliant

    Here’s how to make the Rainbow Road cocktail.

    METHOD:

    Blend six ice cubes with the 15ml Blue Curaçao. Pour into the bottom of a jam jar style glass that’s been dipped in hundreds and thousands.

    Blend the pineapple juice, lemon juice, vodka and bubblegum gomme with six ice cubes and pour gently on top of the Blue Curaçao.

    Top with crushed ice and pour over the cranberry juice and Very Cherry Lambrini.

    Garnish with fizzy rainbow strips, marshmallows a slice of watermelon and other colourful sweets.

    INGREDIENTS:

    50ml Lambrini Very Cherry
    25ml Vodka
    25ml Cranberry juice
    15ml Blue Curaçao
    15ml Bubblegum gomme
    15ml Lemon juice
    25ml Pineapple juice
    Coloured sweets

  • COMPETITION: Win A Box Of When In Rome Falanghina White Wine

    COMPETITION: Win A Box Of When In Rome Falanghina White Wine

    When in Rome, the premium bag in a box wine company, will this month officially launch its fundraising campaign with leading LGBT+ youth charity, Just Like Us, in support of its work empowering young LGBT+ people to promote equality in education and the workplace across the UK. Even more exciting is that THEGAYUK has five boxes to give away.

    To be in with a chance to win one of these wine boxes simply answer the question below. Winning entries will be drawn on 17th July 2018. You must be over 18 years to enter.

    When in Rome will donate the profits from every box of Falanghina white wine sold in Waitrose stores and online between June and the end of August 2018 to Just Like Us to assist in the charity’s mission to enable teachers and pupils across the country to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying by organising activities that celebrate LGBT+ equality in education. 

    When in Rome Co-founder, Rob Malin says of the partnership: “Just Like Us is doing great things for young people who can find it tough navigating through a subject that still has stigma attached to it. We just want to show our support and help raise a bit of money for a great cause” 

    Those opting to buy a box of Falanghina this summer will get a crowd-pleasing wine perfectly suited to the summer months and do their bit for a great cause. Typically, restaurants around the bay of Naples, and as far away as Rome, serve Falanghina as their house white. Fruity and refreshing, it is coastal Southern Italy in a glass. With a hint of minerality, it goes down a treat with seafood, fish and chips or a weighty bowl of pasta and ragu. 

    To celebrate the partnership, When in Rome will be hosting tastings in selected local Waitrose stores during selected Pride weekends, such as Brighton and Edinburgh. 

     

    This competition has now ended.

     

    Terms & Conditions Of Entry

    • Entrants must be over the age of 18 years – subject to proof of date of birth.
    • Winners will be drawn and notified on the 17th July 2018.
    • If prizes are not claimed within 7 days of notification they will become disqualified and a new winner will be drawn.
    • Prize includes one box of Falanghina wine and cannot be exchanged for cash or other prizes.
    • Entry requires the addition to our standard “The Update” newsletter. To see the GDPR statement and privacy policy click here.
    • Prizes will be posted out by the company directly and THEGAYUK cannot be held responsible for lost prizes.
    • Our standard Terms of Service and Privacy Policy stand.

    Boxes of Falanghina are available from over 230 Waitrose stores across the country, including the John Lewis Foodhalls on Oxford Street and in Bluewater. The boxes can also be purchased online at waitrose.com. Find out more about the partnership here: www.wheninromewine.co.uk 

  • Haynes Pictures Tell a Thousand Words

    Haynes Pictures Tell a Thousand Words

    …well 958 actually.

    Someone l follow on Twitter recently mentioned about looking at the car pictures in the Haynes manual and it got me thinking. A lot of my misspent youth was spent wasting hours and hours of it reading through the Haynes manual when l should have been studying or doing homework. You see, I started to buy Haynes early in life. I was about 13. My first was a for the 65-75 VW Beetle 1300 and 1500.

    30 years later and I still have it.

    Apart from Terry Davey’s art illustrations on the front, it was always the actual picture inside that l would while away the hours dreaming about. And my addiction for the Haynes didn’t just stop at a few. It didn’t even stop at the cars I owned. Remember I was 13 when I started to buy them. Correction, collect them. I had all sorts. My addiction was fed with a super injection of Haynes workshop manuals that my father’s friend was throwing out.  

    So 30 years later and I hate to admit that I did cut some of them out of my collection but only due to space. Out of the 26 left, how many of the cars have I owned? 9 which now I look at it I don’t think was so bad. 

    OK, it was bad, that’s a third and spread over 3 decades. But what about the ones with the pictures I lusted after. Well, I sat down, pondered, regaled in the joy as I thumbed through a few and put together my top 3.

    3) The Citroën Visa 79-88 652cc – 1580cc

    This is a bit of a cheat because at the time the family had a Visa. It would become my first car. That didn’t, however, stop me from lusting after the picture of the Visa GTi in the supplement section. 

    It sat there on a wet floor in an industrial estate. It wasn’t even registered. There was no need for Haynes to cover the licence plate. This was fresh!

    The crazy headiness of what a Visa with a 1600cc injection engine would feel like over my fathers 954cc 10E almost feels me to this day with an actual squeal and bust blood vessel. Forget all this though as the GTi had 4 headlights! 

    Now in my day, a fast sporty car had extra lights. Those quad lights gave the humble French hatchback as an aggression that belied its humble beginnings. 

    2) Fiat X1/9 74-89 1290cc – 1498cc


    Top off, wind in the hair, mid-engined handling and pop-up headlights all contained in a little package that your hairdresser drove. Actually, ours drove a Golf convertible, same difference really just different car. 

    I did manage to get to touch the inner working of an X1/9 at a young age of 15 when I used a friend’s for an art project. I have to admit it now that I was obsessed with the pop-up headlights. THEY POPPED UP! So I had pictures of it with lights up and lights down. I’d watch them with amazement.

    The picture was of a ‘Series Speciale’ complete with ladder graphics but no alloy wheels that we got in the UK. This was also left-hand drive thought this didn’t worry me one jot.

    The roof was off. The sun was streaming onto the fabrics and it looked the nuts. I would lay on my bed thinking about storming up the lanes near our home and taking sweeping corners that I was only then able to do so on my mountain bike. 

    I’ve owned this car and the reality is quite different. Mine tried to kill me on a corner once. 

    1) Volkswagen Transporter 72-79 1700/1800/2000


    This is a special one. Haynes did 2 for the Transporter and I picked this one by mistake. It had this funny engine that I had not seen on a VW. The pictures were a young boy’s wet dream of fantasy rolled into 2 pages. 

    The cutaway illustration was a mass of details and based on the Microbus deluxe. That extra trim still makes me giddy though I have never been able to work out why there is a bumper bracket when there isn’t one?

    Cut to the picture inside and it wasn’t the camper that I wanted but the 7 seat microbus with US side markers. I said to myself there and then that I would have a bus from the US.

    Now what made this picture all the more dreamlike was the lady in saddles who sat by the open sliding door. The dogtooth tartan print of her slacks did it. I wanted those slacks.  

    Many years one and I have been that sad to track down an original press picture of that, VW 2863-73 and the sales pamphlet that it came from that year. Sadly I haven’t been able to find the slacks but I did recently buy bedding from Dunelm that matched. And that’s good enough for me.

    Ownership has been every bit as joyful as the picture even though mine is a camper model because I like to have somewhere to sleep. What it never told me was the abysmal 18 miles to the gallon you got. How did the hippies run these things?  

    I’ve managed to own two of these dream cars of mine, all three if you include the Visa as a collective of the range. It has taken some time and the odd distraction along the way but don’t ever let your focus be blurred.

    Dreams are achievable, just be realistic and don’t aim for the Lamborghini Countach. Haynes never did a manual for that one any.

  • This fast food chain is saying bye bye to single use plastic straws

    This fast food chain is saying bye bye to single use plastic straws

    YAAASSSS.

    McDonald's is to phase out single-use plastic straws by 2019
    McDonald’s is to phase out single-use plastic straws by 2019

    The world is literally thanking McDonald’s RN.

    The mega-chain McDonald’s has announced that it’s to quit using plastic straws. It currently uses 1.8 million straws every day, according to the BBC – most of which are single use and end up in the trash.

    It is estimated that we use over 8 billion plastic straws in the UK each year and considering there is under 70 million of us in the country – that’s a lot of straw per person.

    The restaurant is to phase out the plastic in all 1361 of its UK and Irish store by 2019. The eventual aim is to make all of McDonald’s packaging sourced from renewable or recycled sources by 2025.

    Hans / Pixabay

    The new policy follows on from a successful trial in a few restaurants earlier in 2018. The company said, “Reflecting the broader public debate, our customers told us they wanted to see a move on straws”.

    Environment Secretary Michael Gove called it a “significant contribution” to helping the environment, adding that it was “a fine example to other large businesses”.

    But the change isn’t happening globally. BOOO.

    However, some users, have said that the banning of plastic straws could have unforeseen consequences for people who are disabled, who argue that plastic straws enable people to be able to drink independently, particularly for hot drinks. The eco alternatives either conduct or disintegrate with hot liquids.