The Nudge

Prrrrp pr prrp prrrrp pr prrp pah-pah. It’s an intro so iconic, you probably played a fairly accurate version of it in your head just reading that. But if you’re after the real thing? You’ll want to head up to Alexandra Palace in November, because they’re screening classic Wallace & Gromit films alongside a live soundtrack from a big brass band. The band in question are the The KNDS Fairey Band, who are quite literally top brass.

“One of the things that really drives me is just trying to impress Harry – I kind of feel like a terrier going out and bringing back dead animals that he may or may not like and I just want to put them on his desk….” Sam Bompas Nestled amongst the law and accountancy firms of the City Of London sits a large, purple, blue and yellow building housing the company of Bompas & Parr.

A replica of the Sistine Chapel in a Catholic church. A 19th-century pier stretching 960 feet into the English Channel. Superior seafood (not just fish and chips). You’ve probably heard of Worthing, but you probably didn’t know you could find all this, and more, in the pint-sized seaside town. And at just under two and a half hours from London, it makes for a thoroughly decent day trip. The trick is not to overthink it.

Ollie Dabbous is back in the kitchen with a new residency. That’s a sentence that will make a large proportion of the people reading this practically quiver with gastronomic excitement. For everyone else, here’s his bullet-pointed CV: he opened his debut restaurant, aptly named Dabbous, back in 2012, and won a Michelin Star within six months. He then opened HIDE in 2018, and won a Michelin Star within six months.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year award is triumphantly returning this October, ready to reward the planet’s snappers for both their aesthetic prowess, and their ability to not get eaten. Now in its 62nd year (!), the judges are currently trawling through tens of thousands of entries from 100+ countries, eventually crowning the winning images before the show opens –  but for now, they’ve released a few of the best so far.

Apparently Londoners are more comfortable making small talk while 80% nude than sitting on the tube. Because the sociable side to the city’s sauna scene is thriving. Turns out that repeatedly subjecting yourself to sweltering heat followed by a merciless cold plunge can be a bonding experience. Who knew. In fact, one of its leading lights – Peckham’s Sauna Social Club – has become so popular, it’s just expanded to a brand new site only a few doors down from the original.

There are some things that are basically immune to the fickle mood swings of restaurant trends. Like white tablecloths. Red wine. Leather banquettes. And steaks cooked over an open fire. Which is pretty good news for Cordelia’s, a handsome new steakhouse opening in Mayfair this September, where all four feature pretttty heavily.

Norman’s cafe was a brief, bright legend in the North-London-cool-hipster-cafes-that-also-serve-natty-wine scene, right up until it closed. It was run, as you might imagine, by a man named Elliot. He presumably didn’t call it Elliot’s because there’s already an Elliot’s (in fact there are two) which meant that for his next place, he’s once again resorting to plucking a new, not-his name from thin air – in this case, Marrion’s.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more striking set of images than the ones at the World Press Photo Exhibition. That statement is true every year, and has been since 1955 when it first debuted – because the exhibition essentially takes the very best photojournalism from across the planet, and puts it all in one room. And this summer, that room is in Bermondsey… …and as a particularly photogenic bonus? Nudge Members +1 are getting a limited number of tickets at 40% off standard price.

We’re approaching the August bank holiday, which means there’s no denying it any longer: summer is coming to an end. We could spend the three-day weekend wallowing about it but instead, let’s consider it a chance to have one last proper blast of sunshine, sea air and eating outside before we inch into autumn. And what better excuse to stretch summer out for another few days than a day trip to Margate?