Something For The Weekend

Better than strawberries and cream

We might not boast the world's greatest tennis players, but if there's one thing we do have in the UK it's an absolute abundance of fabulous food. Alright, we might have borrowed from other cultures here and there (there's only a certain number of ways you can serve up roast lamb after all), but isn't that what it means to be British? Let's celebrate our great restaurants and drown our Wimbledon sorrows:

Love-£15:

Imli, London - four dishes lunch menu with a complimentary glass of wine or blended fruit beverages and a dessert £15 per person. A new Indian tapas food concept offers a casual but sophisticated dining experience. Imli guests will experience a variety of tastes, textures and ingredients of beautifully prepared dishes for sharing with friends, family and colleagues.

mybar Bloomsbury, London - three course set lunch menu with a complimentary glass of wine or a yummy wellbeing smoothie £15 per person. An informal and enjoyable environment to eat, drink and chill. The space is flexible enough to accommodate your rock star girlfriend or your conservative grandmother. Either way both will have the opportunity to sample light snacks, meals and memorable cocktails.

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Love-£30:

Archipelago, London - three course menu with a complimentary glass of house Bordeaux wine £30 per person. A chance to be adventurous and try some exotic dishes: crocodile, peacock and kangaroo or standard classics like chicken, fish, lamb and an array of vegetarian options. Amazing dining experience to remember.

Stanza, London - three course dinner menu with a complimentary cocktail of your choice £30 per person. A vibrant British restaurant and bar on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the heart of London's West End. Located at the site of the former Teatro and under new ownership and management, this art deco inspired space promises to be a fantastic addition to the area.

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Love-£40:

Asia de Cuba, London - three course menu with a complimentary glass of Mojito cocktail £40 per person. A stunningly beautiful restaurant. The tasteful decor includes giant golden reception stools, teeny bar tables on stilts and toilet doors that seem to appear from solid walls. All done with style beyond imagination. Even budding architects will be impressed.

Cinnamon Club, London - three course set menu with a complimentary Cinnamon Bellini and paired wines £40 per person. A popular place that has it all. Beautifully designed indian cuisine that will tingle your tastebuds with fabulous flavors, traditional ingredients and spices with a western twist.

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See Orlando in the flesh

The lastminute.com girls can barely contain themselves. Our homegrown Kentish boy turned Hollywood superstar is back in the UK and... gulp... on stage in the West End too. Join the ladies swooning in the aisles and the real thespians who are here for the gritty, very human drama of In Celebration (ok, maybe for a peak at Orlando too). Tickets from £40.

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Cathy meets Ash…

  In summer 1995 things were very different. Britpop ruled the world, everyone was watching Peak Practice and it was actually sunny (we think). Best of all, everyone was humming a sunny fuzz-guitar pop diamond called Girl From Mars by three 17 year olds called Ash. 12 years later and Ash are still only 30, but are now veteran rock ‘n’ roll stars, with awards, albums and a Charlotte Hatherley in their back catalogue.

Our intrepid reporter, Cathy Elves met up with bass player, Mark, to talk New York, saving the planet and why new album Twilight Of The Innocents is their last.

You’ve built your own studio in New York. Tell us about it.

Basically we’ve built our own energy efficient studio in New York where we know all the energy is supplied from renewable sources. We also produced the whole of Twilight Of The Innocents there ourselves. I’m really into doing everything we can about global warming and I even wrote to Richard Branson asking him to offset Virgin Atlantic’s carbon emissions. He hasn’t replied as yet.

So you’ve moved to New York now?

I just got sick of London and had felt I’d lost my passion for things. When our tour to America finished that year, I kind of just ended up staying. I’ve definitely found a deeper political interest now I’ve moved here… I’m passionately against Bush and his cronies.

Where do you go out?

To the Lower East Side as that’s where all the bars are but I generally like to stay in Brooklyn as it’s so much cooler than Manhattan – and loads of places to go for drinks.

What music are you listening to at the moment?

I’m far more influenced by American music than British music. The stuff I’m listening to on my MP3 player at the moment are A Brand New and Muse.

Where do you go on holiday?

I go snowboarding and I particularly like the West Coast and Tahoe.

So what are these rumours about this being your last album?

We just think that downloading is the future and definitely the greenest way of releasing records. We will only do singles in the future. We just don’t want to get stuck back in the three year cycle of releasing an album.

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