Photography by Kang.L - http://photography.londoneater.com/

A few weeks ago we picked up on a project run by Rachel Khoo.  The Loft is an intimate dining space where a lucky few can purchase tickets to enjoy an evening of food and wine cooked and chosen by Rachel and her lovely assistant Caroline.  Ostensibly billed as the Kitchen of Chef Nuno Mendes it is in fact a beautiful open planned home turned into a one night restaurant extraodinaire.

Our very own LondonEater went along to not only sample the food on offer, but to photograph the event too.  You can check out his glowing review here, and a selection of the pictures he took on his new site Noir.

Have a look - its guaranteed to make your mouth water - and wait anxiously for the next chance to attend!

Fast approaching for our New York friends is one of the biggest holidays of the summer.  Yup in four days time they’ll be celebrating Inpendence Day.  Although the festival essentially celebrates that the US isn’t a English colony anymore - enough time has passed that we can all get involved.  So to help you navigate all the events that are happening, we’ve put together our recommendations on the best places to celebrate:

Shots in the City

For those of you who’d like to toast the day with a cocktail or eight, why not try one of these bars:

The Hudson Terrace - Sunshine, cocktails and a great view of the Hudson River fireworks.

Macys - Fireworks & Shopping

The Rusty Knot - A nautical themed ‘Dive bar’ with special US themed cocktails on offer.

Photo by anne.oeldorf via Flickr

The All American Experience

Enjoy the finest US cuisine on offer in NYC

Burger Joint - Some call it the best burger in NY, must be great as its up against some stiff competition!

DB Bistro Moderne - Pricey, but still good value considering some of the treats they serve up

Smith & Wollensky - The choicest cuts of meat, served with loving care

Fear not if you are not New York based, for the American’s on British soil this Independence Day, and those London based who’d like a taste of what’s on offer the other side of the Atlantic, we’ve created the ‘Top American Style Bars in London’ for you to try.

Aren’t we kind!  Happy Independence Day!!

An old friend of mine, Nick, emailed me the other day with details of a website he’s just set up Undercover NY. It’s basically a website dedicated to NY’s myriad of street performers and actually well worth checking out. I had a brief look at one of the performers, a stretchy, flexible dance act called Yogi Laser and have to say, he’s as good as half the acts currently on at La Clique in London! (Well worth going to see La Clique though if you haven’t already).

I know Nick’s keen for any feedback, so feel free to contact him from the site.

Enjoy the weekend,

T

The tickets have gone to 5 speedy and deserving individuals. Congratulations to them and we wish them a happy evening tomorrow!

It’s been a few days since we last blogged, but never fear we’re back with a great competition. Our friends at British Airways have kindly give us 5 pairs of VIP tickets to Taste of London to give away!

The tickets are for entry this Friday (19th June 2009) at 5.30PM and include fast track entry, access to BA’s VIP lounge, a complimentary glass of Champagne and £20 worth of crowns (that’s the festivals currency).

To get your hands on a pair of these tickets is very easy, just email us at editor@metrotwin.com with your full name. Simple as that! The first 5 people to do so get the tickets as long as you can confirm you’re a UK resident and have read the T’s and C’s (I’m told this is very important).  We’ll notify you if you win the tickets but unfortunately we can’t respond to everyone.

Good luck and get emailing!

This week saw the opening of New York’s newest park, The High Line.  Teri Tynes from Walking off the Big Apple had a wander through and took some rather lovely pictures, check out her blog for her view on NY’s latest addition here, and have a flick through her photo account below:

Running from this week through to Saturday the SoHo stroll is an annual event who’s aim is to benefit homeless New Yorkers.

Dozens of downtown bars, restaurants, museums and shops are offering major discounts.  To take advantage of these offers you’ll need to pick up a SoHo Stroll signature bracelet.  Available from participating stores or the Welcome Booth - located at the corner of Wooster & Spring - the bracelets cost $20 with every penny going to help the homeless.  These bracelets will give you access to all the events, discounts, promotions and refreshments available.

For more info, drop into the Apple Store, SoHo where you can log onto the website to see the shopping map, and further details of the events taking place.

You can check out the participating stores and offers here

If you ever needed a reason to shop, you’ve got it.  Pick up a bracelet and start enjoying the discounts.

We’ve written before on Metrotwin about Litro Live! If you didn’t manage to make the last one, you’re in luck as tonight they are putting on another evening of live storytelling and music.  This time celebrating the themes of travel and adventure.

Appropriately for travel-themed event the venue is the Betjeman Arms on the Rendevous level (upper concourse) of St Pancras International Station.

The edgy arty evening of music & the spoken word will feature artists including Geoff Dyer & Jake Arnott, Hugo Williams, Stuart Silver with music by The Mayfly Trio and starts tonight at 6pm.

For more info email info@oceanmediauk.com,  call 020 792 0750, or check out the website here

For the New Yorkers who fancy an evening of literary delights (without hopping on a plane) check out Diane Greco’s list of Hot Type for the best places in NYC to get your lit fix

The always excellent LondonEater is a man with his finger on the pulse of the London Restaurant scene, so when I saw this post on his site I knew we were onto a winner.

Photo by Bronia Stewart

Much has been written of late of the revival of so-called ‘Supper Clubs’, passionate chefs open their houses to a small crew of foodies, and serve some good honest home-cooking.  Don’t be fooled into thinking however this means the food will be anything less than restaurant standard - you’re more likely to be chowing down on Scallops and Mutton than beans on toast.  The concept has been embraced by bloggers and more recently by the more mainstream food critics such as the ‘big man’ Jay Rayner.

LondonEater first spoke of ‘The Loft‘ on his blog when Paula Sindberg from the Ultimate Wine Company guest blogged about it on his site.  Chef Rachel Khoo served up such delicacies as ‘Edible Paper and Pencils’ & ‘Slow-Roasted Duck a l’Orange & Plum with Millefeuille of Potatoes’.  YUM

For those of you not lucky enough to enjoy Nuno’s private kitchen last time round you’re in luck.  Rachel Khoo the ‘food creative’ behind the original event is planning another ‘mash-up’ which will incorporate various media formats into a dinner event.

The event takes place on Wednesday 24th June @ 7.30pm and the price is £65pp which gets you a five course menu plus wine.  If you’d like to be involved RSVP to mashuplondon@gmail.com

For further information on this event, the previous ‘mash-up’ and the official press release check out LondonEater here.

We’d like to welcome into the Metrotwin fold our latest new editor Sarah Ecclestone.   A user of Metrotwin she contacted us with two very impressive lists already in the bag!  You can read one of those here Country Chic - a list which reflects the current opinion of many a magazine (I mean you Tatler) that it is currently ‘Sexier in the Country’, an opinion which we city dwellers utterly refute.  Check out Sarah’s tips for the best place to get some country goodness in the city.

Photo courtesy of docsearls via of Flickr. Published under Creative Commons License

Sarah is a proper ‘Ny-Lonner’ living - as she does - in both cities.  Her second list (someone’s been busy!) advises you on literary hotspots in London and New York - Book Lovers.

Hope you enjoy them both, and very excited to see the next!