What To Do This Weekend 05.06.24

Just in time for summer, London’s popular pub and chophouse, The Devonshire, has unveiled a rooftop terrace. The restored venue offers a 40-seat space and the full menu, featuring favourites like five-week aged Scottish beef, Ibérico pork, lobsters and langoustines. The head butcher, George Donnelly, oversees the on-site ageing chamber. Plus, the ground floor now serves upgraded bar snacks like sausage on a stick, chips with hollandaise, and a bacon sandwich made from in-house Ibérico bacon. Pair with a Guinness.  

17 Denman Street, Soho, W1D 7HW

Visit DevonshireSoho.co.uk

Ascot is not just about world-class racing. For the first time ever, guests can enjoy the Royal Ascot dining experience ahead of time thanks to a limited pop-up at The Grill at The Dorchester. Chef Tom Booton’s four-course menu will showcase the best of seasonal British ingredients and give diners a taste of what will be enjoyed by Royal Enclosure members at this year's Royal Ascot (18th-22nd June). Highlights include cured salmon, gazpacho, cucumber and fennel, and a main course of beef fillet, stuffed potato, mushroom chutney and chive mayonnaise. To finish, there’s a seasonal take on Tom’s famed soft serve ice cream with all the trimmings. Four courses cost £100pp. 

53 Park Lane, Mayfair, W1K 1QA; 3rd-17th June

Visit DorchesterCollection.com

The UK’s most luxurious gym group, Third Space, has opened the doors to its new club in Canary Wharf, complete with world-class facilities. The new space will house state-of-the-art fitness equipment and tech, including an Eleiko strength area, a dedicated hot yoga studio, a 20m swimming pool, and a reformer studio. The wellness and recovery facilities, meanwhile, are just the tonic for overworked muscles – think bespoke heated loungers, a Finnish sauna, and a plunge pool for immersive cold-water therapy. The opening of the new club also marks the introduction of a new Tower Reformer class to Third Space, which will become one of the only spaces in London to offer this version of reformer Pilates.

14 Charter Street, Canary Wharf, E14 5GZ

Visit ThirdSpace.London

Hoping that slap is in his rear-view mirror, Will Smith is back with a Bad Boy’s four-quel. The latest in the jocular buddy cop series franchise sees Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Miles, only this time the boys are tackling Miami PD corruption from outside the fold. After a poor reception to Emancipation (2022), can Smith claw his way back into Hollywood's good books? 

Various Locations

Visit Picturehouses.com

Proving BBQ and beer is the dream combination, Dublin’s biggest food festival, Big Grill, is hosting an action-packed weekend of live fire cooking and entertainment at The Five Points Brewing Company in Hackney. In the line-up are some of the biggest names in food – including Neil Rankin, the man behind Soho’s BBQ joint Temper; Michelin-starred Robin Gill; Dublin-born chef Mark O’Brien, formerly of London’s Barbecoa, The Dairy and Birch and many more. From how to take a traditional Sunday roast to the next level to a knife workshop, the best-in-the-bizz food trucks to a chilli eating contest, there’s plenty to get stuck inot. Tickets are £50.

Five Points Brewing Company, 61 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 4RG; 8th-9th June

Visit BigGrillFestival.com

For its 40th edition, Sundance Film Festival has crossed the pond once again. London film buffs will have the opportunity to see a curated list of 11 films, as well as the return of the ever-popular ‘surprise’ film. In previous years that’s included Bart Layton’s American Animals and Halina Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies. Kicking off the programme is Kneecap, the first Irish language film to premiere at the festival – a true story about a Belfast-based rap group striving to save their native language. Closing night features the UK premiere of Dìdi (弟弟), Academy award-nominated director Sean Wang’s tribute to first-generation teenagers in 2008 California’s Bay Area and skating counterculture. Tickets start at £70, with VIP packages available.

Picturehouse Central, The Trocadero, Shaftesbury Avenue, Piccadilly, W1D 7DH; 6th-9th June

Visit Picturehouses.com

Boys From The Blackstuff (created by Alan Bleasdale) is not just a landmark British TV series but also provides a snapshot of the de-industrialisation of the north during the 1980s and the region’s turbulent times. With the National Theatre’s sell-out Dear England under his belt, it makes sense that this state-of-the-nation play is James Graham’s next venture. It centres on a group of blokey, Liverpudlian labourers who have lost their jobs, are on the dole and are up to illicit side projects to make ends meet. While technically a period piece, the conversations around masculinity, mental health and societal change will ring true with a modern audience.

Garrick Theatre, 2 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0HH

Visit BoysFromTheBlackStuff.com