From the 29th – 31st of July 2011 the Southbank Centre will play host to a celebration of vintage Britain - bringing a taste of British food, fashion, music, art and dance from eight decades spanning the 1920’s right up the 1980’s.
Food and drink feature heavily, which is reassuring to know as the notion of tea-dancing, discoing and acid-house raving your way through eight decades certainly works up an appetite.
Last night, Hot Dinners was invited to sample some of the cocktails that will be on offer at the event from the Skylon restaurant in Royal Festival Hall.
These included:
- a sophisticated, fruity and rather pleasant Colony Cocktail (Bombay gin, Luxardo Maraschino, Grapefruit juice and caster sugar served in a Martini glass with a grapefruit twist)
- a warm and mellow Old Fashioned (Wild turkey, angostura bitters, brown sugar and an orange twist) – perfect for relaxing with on the South Bank on a balmy summer’s evening
- a juicy Martinez (Bombay gin, sweet Martini, maraschino liqueur and a couple of dashes of orange bitters served in a Martini glass with an orange twist) which smells, and tastes, not dissimilar to Rowntree’s Orange Jelly - but with a grown-up twist as the gin kicks your taste buds on the way past
- and finally the throat-scalding Sazerac (Martell, a dash of Absinthe and white sugar soaked in Peychaud bitters, stirred and served in an old fashioned glass) which we can only describe as ‘not for the faint-hearted’.
Skylon will be representing the 1920s and 1930s at the festival. They will be serving up a ‘genteel’ afternoon tea during the day, before raising the temperature in the evening with a Cabaret style dining experience. In homage to the spirit of Sally Bowles, live dancers and entertainers will regale you as you dine from a menu that is appropriate to the era.
Elsewhere in the Festival Hall, for ticket-holders only, each decade will be offering up its own signature selection of era-appropriate nibbles and cocktails. For example if you’re a fan of Cosmo cocktails, you’ll find these located in ‘Style Studio’ disco within the vintage 1970s area, or alternatively you can enjoy a tin of lager and some cheesy Wotsits in the ‘Warehouse’ 1980’s themed rave. If you’re after something to soak up those cocktails you can venture up to the ‘Penthouse’ terrace and indulge in freshly cooked BBQ food.
On the ground floor, in what is normally the Riverside Café, the greatest ever battle of Britain shall prevail: The North/South Divide. Separated by a ‘Watford Gap’ running through the centre of the room Southerners will be invited to partake in Pimms and pea and ham hock soup on the Southern side, whereas Northerners will be welcome to indulge in real ales, pork scratchings and stew 'n' dumplings.
Born and bred in Burnley, festival organiser Wayne Hemingway will be marking out his territory on the Northern side of the Gap. When we quizzed him about his favourite British fare he admitted he’s a sucker for fish and chips and if he were to have to choose where to eat in London he’d '…go to the Ivy every time. They just know how to do British food properly.' Wayne's also a fan of British puddings and custards. 'That’s the sort of thing we’ll be serving up here,' he says, 'Not slavishly making it like it was back then, but highlighting what was good about it whilst enhancing it in a modern context.'
The Vintage Festival runs in the South Bank Centre from 29-31st July 2011. For more information go to the Vintage at the Southbank website.
