September’s Hot List
MOTORING: The Out
Live in London and sometimes need a car but not always? Jaguar Land Rover has launched The Out, an app through which you can rent an array of its models on your terms. Your ride can be delivered anywhere in Zones 1-5 (or Heathrow or Gatwick) anytime between 7am and 9pm. You do your thing – you might as well get out of the city as it’s unlimited mileage – and, once your done, The Out will come and pick up the vehicle from wherever’s easiest.
Visit TheOut.com
FOOD: Niklas Ekstedt
Niklas Ekstedt is the culinary pioneer behind Ekstedt, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Stockholm, where everything is cooked over open fire. Seen earlier this year in the UK as a judge on Channel 4’s Crazy Delicious, Ekstedt has just published a cookbook – subtitled The Nordic Art of Analogue Cooking – in which he dives a little deeper into ancient ways of cooking without modern tech. As he tells the stories that inspire his own traditional, seasonal cuisine, he drops in recipes along the way. Happily, to recreate his wild duck confit & overnight baked cabbage or hot-smoked herring, clams & heritage carrots, he does allow you to use a regular oven.
Visit Bloomsbury.com
PODCAST: Billionaire Boys Club
This new six-part series drops into 80s LA, where a group of prep school friends are living the good life on the back of some get-rich-quick investments. But their alpha leader Joe Hunt is getting drawn into some even more dubious schemes, involving kidnapping, torture and revenge. Actor Timothy Olyphant co-hosts this podcast from the makers of The Wonderland Murders, Young Charlie and The Dating Game Killer.
Visit Wondery.com
ALBUM: Blue Note Re:imagined
One of the most exciting movements in music right now is the London-centred jazz scene. Some of the talents in its vanguard were invited by perhaps the genre’s most famous label, Blue Note, to rework some classic tunes. Young guns like Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Ishmael Ensemble and Skinny Pelembe have fired off fresh takes on vital works by the likes of Herbie Hancock and Donald Byrd. The resulting album comes out on 25th September and a couple of preview tracks suggest it’s going to be a bit special.
Visit BlueNote.com
GROOMING: Scrubd
Organic and natural is one of grooming’s growth sectors at the moment. English brand Scrubd has responded to burgeoning demand by repackaging its hero Energising range in… sugarcane. You can now find its award-winning face scrub, face wash and face moisturiser in fully recyclable, planet-friendly sugarcane tubes. What’s inside them remains the same: award-winning formulas created specifically for men with fine natural ingredients.
Visit Scrubd.com
ACCESSORIES: Mismo
Find briefcases too stuffy and rucksacks too shabby? You need something that sits nicely between the two, like this leather-trimmed nylon number from Mismo, the Danish brand with the Spanish name that manufactures in Turkey from fine Italian fabrics. Its latest work bag has two double-zipped compartments – one padded specially for laptops, the other with a couple of zipped pockets for looking after smaller items.
Visit MrPorter.com
BOOK: Living In The Mountains
Art publisher Phaidon has trained its lens on architecture with the release of Living In The Mountains. This large-format, photography-first new tome is a handsome coffee-table showcase of the world’s best-looking high-altitude homes. Spanning the Lone Mountain Ranch House in the desert of New Mexico to the somewhat lusher Casa Terra high up in Brazil, this is a chance to explore ground-breaking work by world-class architects with an eye for conquering – or becoming one with – mountains.
Visit Phaidon.com
EVENT: London Design Festival
The 18th annual London Design Festival takes place across the capital from 12th to 20th September. This year’s unique circumstances have encouraged a strong local focus that stretches across the event’s four designated Design Districts in Brompton, Kings Cross, Mayfair and Shoreditch. Among the festival’s landmark projects, look out for Studio Weave’s Hothouse, a large-scale home to plants that wouldn’t normally grow over here, and an interactive sculpture called Unity in Coal Drops Yard.
Visit LondonDesignFestival.com
MENSWEAR: Reyn Spooner
In the middle of the last century, just as the Aloha shirt was about to be dismissed forever as kitsch anti-fashion, along came Reyn McCullough and Ruth Spooner to elevate the style. Today, their Reyn Spooner brand is still producing high-quality Hawaiians and Mr Porter has just bagged some exclusive designs. Made with trademarked Spooner Kloth – a soft blended cotton that’s nigh on wrinkle-proof – these are shirts that travel well, but will also add a dash of something tropical to late-summer weekends spent closer to home.
Visit MrPorter.com
FRAGRANCE: Maison Francis Kurkdjian
Francis Kurkdjian made his name in the 90s, creating the decade-defining Le Male fragrance for Jean Paul Gaultier. Working for himself now, he continues to challenge conformity. His latest scent is L’Homme À La Rose. Rose is a rare choice for a men’s fragrance, but here it’s the centrepiece of a long-lasting, sturdy eau de parfum that moves seamlessly from fresh to floral to woody. Kurkdjian made a women’s version of À La Rose a few years back, but this is a different beast – and perfectly tuned to autumn. If you like it, wear it.
Visit FrancisKurkdjian.com
RESTAURANT: Kebab Queen
Directly beneath Covent Garden’s Maison Bab restaurant, hidden behind the neon-lit frontage of a classic British kebab shop, lies Kebab Queen. This fine diner sits everyone at a 10-seater chef’s table, where it matches a high-concept tasting menu to a late-night eat-with-your-hands atmosphere. You won’t even get cutlery or plates: courses such as foie gras kebabito and monkfish shish with chicken are served direct onto the countertop. But they’re more than worth the mess. Kebab Queen has just reopened and, as the weather turns and al fresco dining gets riskier, it will come into its own as a novel, fun night out. Round up your mates, book all ten seats and you’ll have the place to yourselves.
Visit EatLeBab.com
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