Halloween is always delivering the weird and wonderful and this year should be no different. Below we serve up 4 venues that will get your taste buds tingling anticipation…
Aqua Nueva
This October, Spanish restaurant aqua nueva will be collaborating with Veuve Clicquot to host their first ever Halloween party. Marking the 150th anniversary of Madame Clicquot’s death, (the ‘Grand Dame of Champagne’,) guests are invited to ‘Meet the Widow’ as she returns on Saturday 29th October to settle her affairs once and for all. Curious spindly trees covered in ivy, black lace, glittering beetles, and skulls set the scene for an evening of gothic glamour.
Hair-raising entertainment will be provided throughout the evening, including a formidable Tarot reader, a roving magician leaving guests spellbound with astounding tricks, and a Silhouette artist cutting a memento of attendees in their lavishly gothic attire. The DJ will be playing all night, from 8.30am-3.00am alongside performances from a troupe of evil Black Swan dancers. At midnight, guests will join the procession to honour Madame Clicquot with a candlelit Jeroboam to toast her.
General party tickets are £45 and include entry, a glass of Veuve Clicquot Champagne and canapés until 11pm. Minimum spend tables are also available from £80 per person (4-6 per table).
Address: 5th Floor, 240 Regent St, London W1B 3BR
Dress code: Glamorously gothic, lavishly horrifying, spookily sophisticated.
Tickets available here
Day of the Dead Spirited Suppers at Oriole
A recent addition to the World’s 50 Best Bars list 2016, Oriole bar beneath Smithfield Market, are excited to be hosting the first in a series of unique pairing suppers with Speciality Brands and agave aficionado Gaby Moncada, to celebrate the Mexican tradition, the Day of the Dead.
On Monday 31st October, guests will be treated to a Tommy’s Margarita with Tapatio Blanco on arrival followed by an amuse bouche of tomatillo verdita, a starter of either prawn, palm hart & scallop ceviche or churros with goat-curd & truffle agave syrup. The main course will be a choice of duck with mole poblano, queso fresco & puree de camote or amarillo mole with cauliflower, topinambur & yucca. To finish, a delicious raw chocolate, chilli & avocado crema with queso crema nachos, providing spooky revellers with a true Mexican feast. Each of these courses will be specially paired with a different expression of agave with Gaby on hand to explain the flavours and crafting of each spirit. To finish off the evening there will be a Blood and Sand Oriole-style with Ilegal Reposado and free live music throughout.
Tickets for the cocktails, supper and tasting are £40pp. This Spirited Supper starts from 7pm so guests are invited to arrive at least 30 minutes before.
Address: Smithfield Market, Smithfield Markets, E Poultry Ave, London EC1A 9LH
Day of the Dead AND Halloween at COYA
COYA will be celebrating The Day of The Dead on 27th October by transforming the restaurant at 118 Piccadilly into a traditional shrine to those who have passed. South American themed performers, dancers and DJs will echo the Latin American spirit and party culture as guests sip on Halloween themed cocktails including the Ukhu Pacha Havana Especial, grapefruit syrup, nardini mandorla, lime, dash Amargo Bitter, Chicha Morada from 9:30pm until late.
Halloween will be toasted on 30th October with a Sunday Brunch from 12pm – 2:30pm. COYA’s Executive Head Chef, Sanjay Dwivedi, has curated an exciting and contemporary Peruvian menu which will feature starters such as Ceviche, Ensalada de Quinoa, and Chicharron, main courses including Solomillo de Res: spicy beef fillet with crispy shallots, aji rocoto and star anise as well as exclusive Halloween dishes such as Pumpkin Cazuela and Pumpkin Tacos and finally deserts such as Coconut and Passion fruit Bavarois: a creamy mousse with fruit and coconut.
To get guests in the All Hallows Eve mood, DJ Basil will be playing his blend of deep funk, reggae and soulful house. One of COYA’s expert chefs will be carving pumpkins for guests and a magician will be showcasing tricks that will spook even the most fearless of guests. The COYA brunch menu is priced at £36 or £46, with the option to add Unlimited Champagne, £20, Bloody Mary Jug, £25, or Peruvian Punch Jar, £35.
Halloween Cabaret at Scarfes Bar
An autumn chill is in the air, and the night fast approaches when the veil between the worlds grows thin. To celebrate Halloween, Scarfes Bar at Rosewood London will once again undergo a ghostly transformation to become the haunted library of a spectral manor house. This takes place for one night only, on Saturday 29th October.
The evening will be directed and hosted by internationally famed cabaret star Dusty Limits, who will play the role of the ageless host Dante treating guests to a macabre burlesque performance with a selection of special guests. Dusty, also known as Dorian Black, is an acclaimed singer and all round performer who has risen to become one of the most celebrated figures on the New Cabaret scene. Considered to be the scene’s ‘Trailblazer’, Dusty remains the only person to win three London Cabaret Awards in a single category.
The bar will be serving up the specially concocted “Eye Spy” cocktail in addition to their other popular favourites in the transformed setting originally inspired by the atmosphere of a drawing room and the sophistication of a traditional gentleman’s club. The artfully social Scarfes Bar evokes a convivial atmosphere with its roaring fire, shelves filled with over 1,000 books, handpicked by a Portobello antique dealer and Gerald Scarfe’s collection of amusing and conversation-provoking paintings that adorn the marble walls. The array of quirky details, velvet armchairs and sofas makes it a unique and spacious venue.
The “Eye Spy” Cocktail
20ml Umeshu plum liqueur
25ml Roast pumping purée
10ml home-made brown syrup
Top with sparkling wine
Garnish with an eyeball & organic edible raspberry blood
Tickets available here for £60 (adv)
Address: Scarfes Bar, Rosewood London, 252 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7EN
And now for you wide card…
End Of The World Party – Electric Brixton
This Halloween will herald a new dawn for humankind. One in which humankind doesn’t exist. The apocalyptic kind. And the cause for the death of civilisation? Zombies. Of course, it’s Zombies. So it’s only fitting with this kind of terrible news that rather than panic London will come together at Electric Brixton on 28th October to have a massive End Of The World Party, laughing in the face of the deadly virus and the plague of zombies that come with it, eating the face off the whole of humanity. Tickets are £10 advance and £20 on the door – all info and advance tickets here.
