After a two-year closure to allow Network Rail to build a huge great viaduct through the middle, Three Crown Square, the old bit of Borough Market, re-opens today. There's a rather ugly new steel and glass entrance on Southwark Street, and a few new concrete piles to support the additional rail infrastructure, but hopefully the spirit of the original won't have been lost. The Market has also released a new interactive map to help the grazing masses navigate their way around.
A novel idea, this: BYOC is a new cocktail bar in Covent Garden where you bring along your own spirits and have the bartenders knock up something for you. There's no alcohol for sale on the premises, so the quality of your drink will be directly related to what you show up with. Entry is £25 per person. We're thinking of heading down with half a bottle of Diamond White, some Unicum Zwack and a can of Irn Bru and seeing what they can muster.
Keeping in the spirit of do-it-yourself drinking, The Lazy Fox in Fulham has introduced a self-service option, where you can pull your own pints. Read more at Time Out's blog.
Want to see the view from the Shard but don't fancy forking out £25 for a ticket to the top or tens of millions for an apartment? Another way up is through one of the restaurants. This week Hot Dinners reported that the Aqua Group will be opening two venues in the tower: one, Aqua London, serving modern British cuisine, and the other a branch of popular Hong Kong diner Hutong. Both are scheduled to open in May.
Finally: if you're the sort who likes to set arbitrary targets each month, and are wondering what to do now that Dry January is over, then here's an idea: Indie February is encouraging people to eschew chains and big brands in favour of independent stores, restaurants and bars for your food and drink needs over the coming month. Follow the Twitter hashtag #IndieFeb for more.
Photo / akirbs
