Rose Ferguson
Credit: Alex Dubber
I love London in October. It’s such a good time of year and, after a pretty mental September, I’m really looking forward to having a bit of time to do some things in the city
Top of my list is The 90s: Art and Fashion at Tate Britain. Edward Enninful is curating it; I can’t wait to see it. The 90s were such a huge part of my life and career, and I think I might be in one of the pictures – so looking forward to that.
I also love London for the simpler things like walking through Hyde Park when the leaves have changed, a long lunch somewhere cosy, and I love cooking in the autumn. There is so much fresh produce at this time of year, it is a great season for veg, lots of greens, squash, mushrooms, beans, and big trays of roasted vegetables. Plus that fits rather perfectly with my new book, The Reset, which came out last month and is really about getting back to the fundamentals of feeling good rather than making health more complicated than it needs to be.
After a very busy launch month, I’m also looking forward to spending some time at Rebase Recovery, getting to ALO, I have been trying to get to both for months!!!
October is also Frieze month so, loads going on and I hope to head to St Clements for a cocktail at some point!
Rose Fergusion is the author of The Reset: The 4 Week Plan to Feel Better Than Ever (HQ, HarperCollins), – out now.
Food: The Horses
Credit: Public House
They’ve done it again! The brand new opening from Public House Group (The Fat Badger & Canteen, The Pelican, The Bull in Charlbury, Cece’s etc), is here, The Horses in Clerkenwell, and it is well worth a visit. They have just opened at 26–28 Ray Street, in a Victorian building that has been a pub site since at least the 17th century. It’s spread over three floors, with a welcoming ground-floor bar, an oyster bar upstairs and an open kitchen on the next level, plus a private dining and events space at the top. The interiors keep things warm and unfussy, with natural English oak, raw plaster and blue-and-white tiles decorated with hand-drawn shells and minnows, while nautical touches nod to the seafood-led menu. You will find oysters, lobster, smoked mackerel, trout, clams and whole fish such as John Dory and Dover sole, alongside more substantial dishes like onglet with shallot and cabbage with white beans. There are also proper pub snacks like Welsh rarebit, mince on toast and fish sandwiches, as well as a good selection of lagers, ales and ciders. It opens from midday, making it an easy lunch stop, but the plan is very much for it to become a neighbourhood pub you can drop into for a pint, an oyster or a plate of fish without needing to make a whole occasion of it. And if you happen to pause outside, listen closely, because the lost River Fleet runs underneath the street.
Bar: Carla’s
Credit: The Webster
Tucked beneath the new Webster hotel at 62 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Carla’s is the sort of bar you could easily walk past without knowing it was there. Opening this month, this 60-capacity late-night spot is being run by bar manager Peppe Corallo and is designed to feel intimate and a little hidden away, with its own cocktail programme rather than simply being an extension of the hotel upstairs. There will be inventive drinks, a more nocturnal atmosphere and live events that should give it plenty of energy later in the evening. The exact opening hours are yet to be announced, but it is intended firmly as a late-night destination, complementing Carmelina’s and its Milanese-style café upstairs. If the idea of starting with dinner or aperitivo at The Webster and disappearing downstairs for cocktails afterwards appeals, Carla’s could be one of Covent Garden’s more interesting new after-dark addresses this autumn.
Theatre: Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy
Credit: Stratford East
Ava Pickett’s new play takes the story of Helen of Troy and drops it into a recognisably modern, post-civil-war Essex, blending Greek tragedy with domestic drama, dark humour and the social tensions of contemporary Britain. Michelle Dockery leads the cast as Helen, returning home to a world that has changed dramatically in her absence. At Theatre Royal Stratford East in Gerry Raffles Square, the production runs until the 10th October, with evening performances generally at 7.30pm and matinees on selected days; tickets range from around £19 to £53.50, with the final Saturday also offering an audio-described performance. It’s an unusual take on a very familiar story and a good excuse to head east for a night of theatre before it disappears but don’t hesitate as you don’t have long left to see it.
Immersive: Absurd City
Credit: Absurd City
Forget the usual museum-style immersive exhibition: Absurd City wants you to actually get lost in it. Which is always quite possible when at Westfield. Opening on the 15th October at Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush, the team behind Bristol’s Wake The Tiger has transformed the former KidZania space into an enormous 80,000-square-foot parallel world filled with surreal districts, hidden rooms, secret passageways, interactive installations and peculiar characters. Rather than following a fixed route or being led through a series of rooms, visitors become “Daytrippers” and explore at their own pace, wandering through five very different districts, from the colourful, consumer-obsessed Bloom Street to the chaotic recycling world of Reclamia, the playful Imaginopolis and the hacker hideout of NEON//NEXUS. Along the way, you can climb aboard a surrealised Routemaster bus, poke around interactive installations, find hidden routes and secret passageways, meet characters and piece together the wider story of a city on the brink of environmental collapse. It’s deliberately hands-on with unexpected details tucked into almost every corner. Allow at least two to three hours to properly explore it; the experience is self-guided, so there’s no pressure to move on when something catches your eye.
Tickets are already on sale and the attraction is aimed at families, adults and anyone who enjoys the slightly strange end of London’s cultural scene.
Exhibition: The 90s: Art and Fashion
Credit: Eileen Perrier -Tate Britain
Calling all fans of the 90’s! Do you feel like a trip through your own cultural memory? Yep, what happened just a few short years ago (ahem..!), is now an exhibition. Opening on the 8th at Tate Britain, The 90s: Art and Fashion looks at the decade when British art, photography, fashion, club culture and music seemed to collide, with Edward Enninful, then deeply immersed in London’s creative scene, curating the show. Expect work and imagery connected to Kate Moss, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Gillian Wearing and Yinka Shonibare, alongside photography, fashion and the underground club culture that helped define the period. It’s less a straightforward nostalgia trip than an exploration of how a new generation challenged old ideas about what counted as art, fashion and popular culture. Tate Britain is of course open daily, with late opening on some Fridays; tickets are around £22, with concessions and free entry for members.
Music: Mega Mega: Romford’s Suburban Sound Revolution
Credit: Havering London
This might be the most niche entry on this month’s Hotlist, and that’s exactly why it’s worth reading. Opening this month and running until December, Mega Mega the exhibition, digs into Romford’s surprisingly influential role in British electronic music between 1989 and 1999, when record shops such as Boogie Times, Suburban Base Records, pirate radio stations, promoters, DJs and dancers helped push hardcore, jungle, garage and drum & bass far beyond the borough. Rather than presenting the story as a conventional history exhibition, it combines sound, archive material, oral histories and new commissions which includes BOSH, a modified Volkswagen Golf turned into a tiny “micro-club” listening space. Naturally. There’s also a permanent archive being created, with local people invited to contribute photographs, flyers, tapes, tickets and memories from the era. The exact opening hours and final venue details are still to be announced, but for anyone who grew up around London’s 90s rave culture or who just loves that vibe, this is one for you to discover a part of the capital’s musical history that rarely gets the spotlight.
Family: Halloween at Kew
Credit: Ollie Dixon
Kew gets a decidedly darker makeover from the 16th, when its gardens become the setting for a 1.5km illuminated Halloween trail. It winds through the Gardens after dark, with new stops including Dracula’s Lair, a Cursed Tomb, Medieval Dungeon and a rather ominous Forest Ritual. Along the way, live actors pop up as grave robbers, witches, executioners and other people you probably wouldn’t want to meet while wandering through a dark garden, while fire performers add a little extra drama. The Headless Horseman is back too, because of course he is and the whole thing finishes at the new Monster Disco, where giant skull-shaped mirror balls and a Dance Master await. There’s also suitably terrible Halloween food like freaky fries, monster marshmallows, hot chocolate and hot toddies all so you can restore yourself after being traumatised by a pumpkin scarecrow. The later you go, the more theatrical it gets…you have been warned!
Books: London Literature Festival
Credit: Oluwatosin Daniju
Books get a slightly unexpected celebrity curator for the London Lit Festival this month, as Dua Lipa takes the reins at the Southbank Centre. Running from the 21st October to 1st November, the festival brings together established and emerging writers for talks, readings, poetry, workshops and conversations, with Dua curating a series of events through her Service95 Book Club. The programme is broad enough to dip into rather than requiring a full festival commitment: highlights include Dua Lipa in conversation with Zadie Smith about White Teeth, a 40th-anniversary celebration of Poems on the Underground, the Forward Poetry Prizes and a day of free events for aspiring writers. There are also family-friendly activities and free programming alongside the ticketed events, so it’s easy to make a few hours of it rather than booking an entire day, and something for all ages. It;s the perfect opportunity for any book lover to find a new book, a new author or at least a new thing to think about.
Food: Endo
Credit: Endo Chelsea
There are sushi restaurants and then there are sushi restaurants where getting a seat is practically part of the experience and the biggest hurdle. Opening on the 1st of the month at 8–9 Blacklands Terrace in Chelsea, ENDO has just 10 seats. Talk about exclusive! These 10 esteemed seats are centered around a remarkable 200-year-old Kyoto hinoki counter inspired by the sushi counters of 1920s Tokyo. Third-generation sushi master Endo Kazutoshi (hence the restaurant name) will serve a single omakase experience built around wild British fish and exceptional Japanese ingredients, with the exact progression of dishes deliberately left to the chef. There are two dinner sittings, at 5.45pm and 8.45pm, Wednesday to Saturday, with the omakase priced at £305 per person. And there’s another surprise upstairs: Moga, a Japanese-inspired listening bar with custom Taguchi speakers, a ceiling made from traditional masu sake cups and tea-led cocktails developed with Postcard Teas. Moga won't open fully to the public until December, but the combination of a ten-seat sushi counter and hidden listening room already makes us want to get in asap. So head to the website and join that waiting list with us.
Charity of the Month: Run Wild, London Zoo
Credit: Sands’
October also offers a quieter opportunity to take part in something genuinely meaningful. Baby Loss Awareness Week brings people together to remember babies who have died during pregnancy or shortly after birth, while raising awareness and supporting bereaved families. There are several ways to get involved without needing to attend a large organised event: Sands’ Ribbon Run on the 10th invites people to run or walk 5K or 10K wherever they are, while Miscarriage UK’s Walk for Every Loss asks people to walk four miles at 4pm on Sunday 11th October, either alone or with friends and family. Throughout the week, Sands groups also organise local remembrance activities, ribbon displays and community events. The week ends with the Global Wave of Light at 7pm on the 15th October, when people around the world light candles in memory of babies they have lost. It’s a simple but powerful way to take part at home.