Boasting a staggering array of cast, keg and bottle beer, this is where you will find us after work.

The place is a real hidden gem in the depths of Tavistock Square. Down a quiet street in the basement of a hotel, this alley is initially hard to find, but once you know the secret alleys you are hooked.

The one off creation has become a refreshing stand out destination in London’s chain and concept dominated night life. Look closely and you will notice features such as our sleek vintage above lane ball returns (sourced from Canada of all places).  A bar made from 60 year old bowling lane wood from the famous Lucky’s Lanes in Los Angeles.

The lanes hold lots of fun nights with bands and dj’s playing the best of Britpop, Indie and Vintage tunes so make sure you add yourself to their mailing list here.

This November the Design Museum in London will be celebrating Sir Terence Conran’s 80^th birthday with a major exhibition examining the impact on contemporary life of the designer, restaurateur and retailer.

Throughout his career this visionary has transformed the look of the British home with a look that is infamous worldwide. He has established a design studio and an architectural practice with a worldwide reach. He was the founder of Habitat and a pioneer of the new restaurant culture driven by a passion for simplicity.

The Way we Live explores his journey through inerior design, his inspirations and advances since his impact first hit in the 50’s. From humble beginnings of welding chairs himself to magazine covers the curated exhibition works irts way through his inception of Habitat and his own design studios – producing foward thinking home design.

Born in 1931, Terrence studied Textiles at Central Saint Martin’s and went on to travel France. His inspiration was ignited through the French unmessy and uncluttering kitchenware. Determined to drive this concept in Britain, he not only designed his own range but also inkeeping with the culinary theme opened his first restaurant. Just of the Strand stood ‘The Soup Kitchen.’ This was  followed by The Orrery restaurant, hailing the beginning of a variety of Parisian style brasseries that would transform Britain’s eating habits. In 1956 Conran launched the Conran Design Group, a practice covering interiors, furniture and graphic design.

The Conran Design Group demonstrated the best of design in Britain, specialising in interiors, hotel and restaurant design, graphics, products and home ware. Conran’s restaurant empire continued to grow both at home and abroad with iconic restaurants such as Mezzo, Bluebird, Quaglino’s and Le Pont de la Tour opening in the UK and Guastavino’s in New York and Alcazar in Paris, Conran has more recently opened Boundary, Albion and Lutyens. His desire to sell good design to the mass market enters a new chapter with the forthcoming home ware collection for Marks and Spencer, alongside his other furniture businesses Benchmark and Content by Conran.

Throughout his career Conran has shown how design is intrinsically linked to business activity, and one that has earned its place at the centre of national, economic and political debate. Now in his 80th year Conran continues to symbolise a way of life that is both attractive and aspirational, an approach to life that has indeed defined The Way We Live Now.

Running from 16 November 2011 to 23 March 2012 – for more information check out the Design Museum webiste here.

After years of driving his van around London and pop up restaurants, Yianni, the founder of this heralded burger establishment has now swapped all of this for bricks and mortar. His new restaurant titles ‘MEATLiquor’ will be opening on the 11^th of November in Marylebone, London .

The new restaurant, MEATliquor, will serve up all the old favourite burgers, fried chicken, buffalo wings and Philly cheesesteaks as well as chilli cheese fries, a range of salads (which they call rabbit food) with soft-serve ice-creams and cream pies for dessert.

Drinks, in the form of jam jar cocktails, will come courtesy of Giles Looker from Soulshakers. There’ll also be a range of quality wines and beers.

MEATliquor opens at 76 Welbeck Street, London W1 on 11 November 2011 and will serve from lunchtime to the ‘small hours’.

For the first time in over a decade, the public are being given a chance to have a good old nosy around one of the most historic tube stations drenched in architectural and historical heritage.

In conjunction with The Transport Museum, the tube will be open over the following days : Fri 25th; Sat 26th and Sun 27th November, and again on Fri 2nd; Sat 3rd and Sun 4th December.

Served by a shuttle train for most of their life and suffering from low passenger numbers, the station and branch were considered for closure several times. A weekday service survived until closure in 1994, when the cost of replacing the lifts was considered too high compared to the income generated. Disused parts of the station and the running tunnels were used during both World Wars to shelter artworks from London’s public galleries and museums from bombing. The station has long been popular as a filming location and has appeared as itself and as other London Underground stations in a variety of films. In recognition of its historical significance, the station is a Grade II. Adverts from the 1970s still decorate the walls.

It will cost you £20 to get down there and the tours last 40 minutes, with this you also get a free one day pass to London Transport Museum, a 10 minute walk from Aldwych Tube.

As The Robin Collective so aptly put it: “Feast your mind and your belly, but not at the same time (that would be vulgar)!”

Advance tickets  are only £25 and can be purchased here: http://www.therobincollective.co.uk/

Saturday, October 29th, 2011
Two screenings – 3:00pm and 7:00pm,
Tour de Force Theatre
6 Well Street, London, E9 6PX

For more, have a look here.

At 32 years old and with chainsaw and hammer in hand, he literally started digging. The result was a wooden eco home in the depth of the Welsh Hills. Taking on the three month,  labour intensive project ended up costing a mere £3,000 in total.

Reminiscent of the Hobbits house in the Lord of the Rings, the deceiving large house holds more than enough space for the family of 3. Like the novel though, there is a whimsical nature to the house and definitely a sense of magic.
Simon remarkably had never built anything in his life. This also changed when he became a self made carpenter and architect. Most of his recourses were even free! Delving into skips and savaging for materials on the land, he even used water diverted in from the nearby spring.

The plot of land that was given to them free of charge from a nearby farmer. The construction then started in a series of stages. First was the digging process, then constructing the timbre frame, followed by straw bales for the roof, and finally a layer of earth around the walls.

The locals love it, and why wouldn’t they? Simon Dales creativity, self belief and determination to provide a home that was safe for the environment on a budget and in turn this architectural gem has really opened the eyes of many – us included.

If you would like to get involved in their exciting new project in the Lammas eco development in Wales then please visit here.

For more information please visit Simon Dale’s website – from which all images were also sourced.

www.simondale.net