All this week (Chocolate Week!), Artisan du Chocolate (89 Lower Sloane St, SW1W 8DA) will be holding free tutored min-tasting events in shop at 1pm and 6pm. The tasting sessions will offer participants the opportunity to sample Artisan du Chocolat’s new range of bars. Londonist popped round yesterday with a few friends and we were more than pleased with the information and samples provided (we especially liked the green tea and the saffron chocolates).......

Not content with celebrating our fourth birthday, October also sees the sixth in our popular series of guided walks. When: Friday 24 October - walk leaves at 7pm. What: Don't you want to go to Chelsea? Dogs on sticks, ghost bears, lavatory humour, satanic sports venues, secret agents, vampires, phantom Eskimos, wombats, ultra violence and suicidal sea captains. More bonkers tales than you can shake a stick (with or without a dog attached) at.......

The music of Cole Porter may not be something you would expect to be discussed on Londonist, but every since we sobbed our way through 'De-Lovely' in Whiteley's cinema we've been a big fan. So we were excited to see Chelsea's gorgeous Cadogan Hall promising 4 nights Cole Porter kind of biopic 'A Swell Party'. Originally staged at the Vaudeville Theatre in 1991, John Kane's show attempts to re-create Porter's life story using a......

We love it when you can you see the dazzling Hollywood glamour of old films in nice locations. With the NFT it's one of the things London is so good at giving us, and there's more and more random film events popping up including this summer's Smirnoff Black Screenings. Running until 27 August, Smirnoff are hosting a Wednesday night film club at Bluebird on Kings Road, Chelsea. It's £5 per person for a film......

The men may have had the summer off to relax, but England's Ladies team are already back in action and last night faced world champions Germany (above) in a friendly. Alex Stone of the Football Association sent us this report: Germany concluded their Olympic preparations with a comfortable 3-0 victory over England in front of a vocal crowd of 9,185 at the Sportpark Unterhaching last night. England started confidently and after a short passing......

59. The Monster Of Markham Square I would like to share with you a true tale of utmost horror and of some obscurity. I have never been one for the repetition of dark, sinister yet factual tales and this particular yarn is no exception – but like all classic, yet truly terrifying stories, this too will extinguish the flames of any cosy campfire by the by the sheer chill of its terror. I have......

In a move that came as a surprise to nobody in football, Chelsea yesterday rewarded manager Avram Grant for getting them within a goalpost's width of their first European Cup by terminating his contract. According to a statement released on the club's website Saturday afternoon, the Israeli coach, and sometime rodent disturber, was dismissed following a series of meetings over the past two days. Peter Kenyon prefigured the decision earlier in the week, when......

Finally! A good news story about the 2012 Olympics. IOC Coordination Commission Chairman Denis Oswald was not only "truly impressed" with London's progress since the IOC's last visit but singled out progress on the Olympic parks as "truly astounding". Construction work on the sunken cupcake has commenced 3 months ahead of schedule. Asked to rate London's performance so far Mr Oswald generously marked us 9.75 out of 10 with only some concerns about transport......

While all eyes were fixed on Moscow last night, the Russians braced for a traditional British hooligan rampage, trouble actually flared up closer to home on Fulham Broadway. Disgruntled Chelsea fans gathered there after their team crashed out of the Champions' League final on penalties, and with a crushing inevitability clashes with police broke out soon afterwards. Around 400 fans surged into the street after Anelka missed the final penalty of the game, blocking......

King's Road in Chelsea is closed due to an incident involving gunfire: members of the public reported hearing gun shots in the area and police were fired at when they approached. The armed police officers discharged their weapons in return at approximately 5pm and the incident is still unfolding. No injuries have been reported, no arrests have been made yet but King's Road is closed and shops in the immediate area are closed. Business owners......

Vindication finally came to Avram Grant last night. The lugubrious Chelsea manager (and sometime Dangermouse nemesis) achieved what his beloved predecessor never could: he smuggled his side into a European cup final. Long derided by fans, and perennially in danger of being chopped by Chelsea paterfamilias Roman Abramovich, Grant suddenly finds himself with the chance of snatching a historic Prem and Champions League double from under the whiskers of Manchester United. And in a......

A Premiership title decided well before the final day and an FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City are not likely to enchant English football's television paymasters around the world. Many football fans are delighted at Wembley's unexpected May guests, but a predictable league combined with a cup competition that appears to be losing the attention of the big teams while they remain in Europe look like a recipe for stagnation and possible......

If you want to see title-challenging Chelsea entertain Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Monday night you can expect to fork out between £40 and £65 for the privilege, but tonight you can watch a cup final there for free as Chelsea host Manchester City in the first leg of the climax of the FA's youth tournament. The second leg will take place in Manchester on 16th April. If you can make it in time......

While the weekend's football may have been dominated by FA Cup upsets, for the red corner of North London, Sunday March 9th was memorable for a more unusual reason. St.Totteringham's Day is one of those arcane bits of football rivalry that makes the game so enjoyable. It falls every season on the day when it becomes mathematically impossible for Spurs to overtake rivals Arsenal in the Premier League. Despite the Gooner's anaemic draw against......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 10th March 1906: The Baker Street & Waterloo Railway opens, running between Baker Street and Elephant & Castle stations. It would soon become known as the Bakerloo Line. Tuesday – 11th March 1692: The Royal Chelsea Hospital is founded by Charles II. Designed by Christopher Wren, the hospital would also become the model for Greenwich’s Royal Navel Hospital. Wednesday – 12th March 1988: The Bank of England......

Richard Scudamore of the Premier League has not been the most popular footballing figure of the last few weeks. The executives overseeing football in favoured destinations for his plan of playing Premier League matches abroad, such as China, Thailand and the USA, have lined up to express their objections, as has the President of world football's governing body, FIFA. However, not every land that loves football comes under FIFA's aegis. Scudamore might be able......

You can tell the vintage of an Ethiopian male by the team he favors... Granddads like Liverpool, dads ManU, and young men Arsenal. The emerging generation seems to be leaning toward Chelsea. Why all British? The BBC, of course. Next to Coke and Pepsi, Arsenal was the most visible Western brand in the country. So says Angry Monk, taker of the above shot of a taxi driver in Awasa. His observations will come as......

Last year Arsenal won everything in sight, a clean sweep of domestic and European trophies. Manager Vic Akers was delighted to secure four triumphs from four competitions. We are, of course, talking about the Ladies team who tonight take on Everton at Leyton Orient's Matchroom Stadium to defend the first of that quartet of titles, in the FA Tesco Women's Premier League Cup Final, kick off 7:35pm. The game is also live on Sky......

The world of English football wobbled a few degrees off its axis yesterday when a club not called Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United or Liverpool won a major trophy. This hadn't happened for four years, since Middlesbrough were victorious in the Football League Cup final against Bolton, but Jonathan Woodgate's one-two with Petr Cech ensured that Tottenham Hotspur would claim their first proper silverware since they won the same competition in 1999 under the stewardship......

Selfridges go that little bit further to draw in the crowds. There won’t be a criminal enquiry over Lee Jasper’s conduct. But we don’t think that this will be the last of it. Chelsea manager Avram Grant has received anti-semitic death threats. That’s just not football, now is it? Yikes! The £4.00 pint is on its way. You can check out the Brit award winners and losers here. Actually, the losers were all those......

Hoodies to the left of us, police marksmen to the right, here we are stuck in the middle with... hmm, an angry Chelsea Pensioner. Or at least a pensioner from Chelsea, one Eric Williams, recently jailed for four months for attacking a couple of car salesmen. Now there are some who might say that attacking car salesmen could be considered a civic duty, but threatening to slice off someone's testicles... over a long-running tax......

On the day the Premiership announces plans for its clubs to play matches in far flung destinations Ruislip Manor FC would settle for seeing out this season on their own patch. The club, who play in the Molten Footballs Spartan South Midlands Premier Division, effectively eight levels below the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal, have spent the last few weeks staring extinction in the face, culminating in a dramatic fight for life last Wednesday......

Beware the pornographic perils of Bluetooth Chelsea Barracks sold for incredible £959 million - expect imminent Sloane explosion as 2000 luxury apartments move in Afghanistan soldiers' exhibition up for award at National Army Museum Home time warning - trains between London and Milton Keynes are suspended Happy birthday Thames Barrier, 25 today! Image courtesy of Simon Crubellier via the Londonist flickr group.......

We hope you’re standing up for this: A KCL study finds that sitting on your arse all day contributes to the ageing process. Whereas regular exercise apparently makes you look like Elle MacPherson. In a wholly uncorroborated and unscientific study undertaken in the last 5 minutes, Londonist notes that the rockstar lifestyle isn’t so bad an antidote to ageing either. Our evidence: 56-year-old Sting and 62-year-old Eric Clapton, who will headline Hyde Park’s Hard......

37. London UFOs Part Three The 40s were the start of something huge for ufology after pilot Kenneth Arnold observed nine disc-like craft over Washington in 1947. For London, it was the 22nd of November when a female witness, whilst under hypnosis, spoke of being abducted by two silver suited females and put before a man who burned the figures ‘H6AQ’ onto her leg, which were still visible when she awoke from her trance.......

You wouldn’t think Jacqui Smith scares easily. In her time as Home Secretary she’s dealt with car bombs and blazing jeeps, and she’s lately been facing down a bunch of mightily annoyed cops. But in an interview appearing today in the Sunday Times, Jacqui revealed that she wouldn’t dare walk down a London street alone at night. Would she feel safe walking alone at night in, say, Hackney, east London? She looks alarmed: “No.......

Mere days after warning us about 'white flight' and the perils of living in modern London, scribes at the Telegraph have had a volte-face, and declared their love for our flawed yet fantastic city with a special report on the top 10 property hotspots for 2008. First up on the list: well, colour us a shade of surprised blue - the Telegraph's only singled out the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, home to Notting......

Imagine, if you will, the 'real-life' equivalent of the footballer's 'come and get me' plea to the media..... You're doing very well in your current job, but you can't help but think that you'd be doing even better working for this other organisation, in a more lucrative and high-profile role. This other organisation isn't actually advertising any vacancies at the moment, but you've heard that they might be looking and dammit, you just know......

The Royal Marsden Hospital on Fulham Road, Chelsea is on fire. A full evacuation is in progress. There are no reports yet of casualties or injuries; however, the blaze looks very serious. According to the BBC, 'much of the roof has been destroyed'. The hospital is a major treatment and research centre for cancer. Ironically, a neighbouring headline on the BBC site asks 'Is the NHS working where you live?'. We'll update the story......

I have been interested in recent newspaper reports suggesting I had lost, or was about to lose, one leg, two legs, an arm, a head - some people suggesting this went some time ago! - or even a fingernail. I am happy to tell you that, when I last looked, all of these items appeared solidly where they have been for many years. Michael Winner on rumours that he’d had a limb amputated. January 19......