WHISKY SOUR, ANYONE?

Today is national Whisky sour day, and if that’s not an excuse to pop in for a drink at the Lonsdale then I don’t know what is. Even though National Whisky sour day is probably arbitrarily assigned by some Whisky company, we like to embrace these tenuous holidays whole heartedly.

Some of you might not know what whisky sour is, but we’re here to erase that little bit of ignorance from your head.

Whisky Sour is a drink made with 3 parts Bourbon, 2 parts lemon juice and 1 part sugar syrup - you can put a bit of egg white in it, but then that makes it a Boston Sour. Shaken and served either straight or on ice, and traditionally garnished with half an orange slice and a cherry.

The oldest mention of a Whiskey sour comes from a newspaper published in Wisconsin, USA in 1870. It might be 140 years old, but that doesn’t stop it being just as good as ever.

And for all those wondering, the difference between The Lonsdale’s Whisky Sour and everyone else’s? Alex Palumbo, our Head Barman adds a dash of orange bitter and 5ml or maraschino cherry syrup. Why? Because it ‘makes it more delicious’ – his words. You heard it here first.

It's Friday again, so here's our weekly cocktail...

It’s mid August, it’s summer holiday season – we’re starting to feel slightly worried about bikini and trunks time. So here’s a (not all that) healthy cocktail. It has lime, an orange-based liqueur and mint. That has to be part of your five a day, surely? No? Oh well, we’ll start the diet tomorrow.

VIC’S MAI TAI

GLASS : ROCK
METHOD : SHAKE WITH ICE CUBES & DOUBLE STRAIN INTO THE GLASS OVER CRUSHED ICE
INGREDIENTS :
25 FRESHLY SQUEEZE LIME
10 ML ORGEAT
5 ML GOMME
25 ORANGE CURACAO
25 ML WRAY & NEPHEW
25 ML APPLETON EXTRA
GARNISH : ½ LIME SHELL & SPRIG OF MINT

Lonsdale's Guide to Notting Hill

As always there’s a lot going on out here in W11 at the moment, and we’ve taken it upon ourselves to bring you all bang up to date with the very best of it.

Starting us off we’ve got a Matthew Williamson Sample Sale, coming up this weekend (19th and 20th of August.) It’s at the 20th Century theatre, 291 Westbourne Grove, and is a great opportunity to see some of his best designs and with up to 70 per cent off ready-to-wear, beachwear and accessories it also promises to be a great place to pick up a bargain.

While on the topic of fabulous threads, you can see a selection of screen icon Grace Kelly’s clobber on show at the V&A museum, in South Kensington. The exhibition’s on until the 26th Sept and there’s over 50 of her outfits, not to mention more hats and jewellery than you can shake Grace’s Oscar at. By the way, her Oscar statue is going to be there too, but you’re not allowed to shake it.

Do you have a Garden? Does it have an outlandish sculpture? Do you want it to? Well if the answer to these questions is yes, no, yes or if you just fancy looking at some cutting edge garden art then we’ve got just the show for you. ‘Contemporary Art for the Garden’, is running at 1–5 Needham Road, W11 through until the 4th of September.

We’ve also heard rumour of a new, pop-up cinema hidden underneath the Westway. If it’s hidden too well we’ll give you a clue- it’s at 3 Acklam Road, W10 on Wednesday August the 18th at 7.40pm. It’s a one off evening where Hussain Currimbhoy presents some of his favourite films from the 2009 programme at the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival. Anyway it’s spontaneous cinema, what’s not to like?

You’ve also only got a last few days to get involved in Ping, the new travelling table tennis phase that’s been roaming London. It’s currently at the Notting Hill Arts Centre, (which is also home to YoYo, the best thing to happen to Thursday nights.) Marked 'Stop and Play', the tables are for all to enjoy. To join in just borrow a bat and ball from the side of the table and ping and pong to your hearts content.

Come back again soon for more reports on what’s hot and what’s not.

Monday Afternoon Cocktail...

If you've had a stressful welcome back to the new week, why not indulge and make yourself a beautiful cocktail...

TOMMY’S

GLASS : ROCK

METHOD : SHAKE WITH ICE CUBES & DOUBLE STRAIN INTO THE GLASS OVER ICE CUBES

INGREDIENTS :
50 ML olmeca altos BLANCO
15 ML AGAVE NECTAR
25 ML FRESHLY SQUEEZE LIME
GARNISH : NONE

The Rotten Hill Gang are playing at The Lonsdale.

Free on the 26th of August? The Rotten Hill Gang (sounds a bit like The Garbage Pail Kids!) are back in Notting Hill. They played at the Carnival in 2008, and we’re lucky enough to have them come play a set for us on the 26th of this month. Described as ‘Dickensian Hip Hop’ these guys have supported Mick Jones in the past and have an eclectic mixture of songs that include movie soundtracks mixed in with rock ‘n’ roll. They’re very unique, bang on trend and we’re extremely excited to have them, quite literally ‘in the house’.

http://www.myspace.com/officialrottenhillgang

R.A.C Cocktail

To shake things up a little (get it? Cocktails…shaking…) we’re giving you all a mid-week cocktail. It’s raining outside, summer appears to have deserted us, so we’ve decided to turn to drink. We’ll still be bringing you a Friday cocktail, but for now – enjoy.

Recipe by Fred Fraeck in 1914, R.A.C. means Royal Automobile Club. This is the largest club in London with over 16000 members

GLASS : COUPETTE

METHOD : STIR WITH ICE CUBES & DOUBLE STRAIN INTO THE GLASS

INGREDIENTS :
50 ML TANQUERAY
20 ML NOILLY DRY
20 ML NOILLY ROUGE
5 ML GRENADINE
1 DASH OF ORANGE BITTERS
GARNISH : CHERRY & ORANGE PEEL

First Wednesday

There’s always been a case of East vs. West in London, and now for the first week of each month, the rivalry continues with First Wednesdays. Focusing on creative businesses in the Notting Hill area such as art galleries, fashion boutiques, design spaces as well as music and entertainment, the project is similar to its would-be sister, First Thursdays, over in East London.

In addition to exclusive entry to exhibitions at some of the finest galleries in West London, many of the boutiques will be offering up some hefty discounts. One such generous bunch are Wolf & Badger, who are offering discounts of up to 40% on selected designer products if you visit their recently opened shop. Look out for one of their newest additions, FS Augusta, whose quirky iconic pig rings are in hot demand right now.

Be sure to also visit the vintage eyewear archive at the Oliver Goldsmith store as well – they’ll be giving away a limited edition tote bag with every purchase.

If you’re not local to West London or you’re worried that you won’t be able to hot foot it over after work, fear not. The beauty of First Wednesdays is that all venues open their doors late especially for the occasion.

And of course as the official after party venue, we’ll be welcoming all guests through our humble doors. To celebrate the occasion, Alex has created the appropriately named ‘Notting Hillbilly’ cocktail. Just remember to bring your flyer, available from all participating organisations.