Want some recognition for all that elbow bending at the bar? Well, head over to Jermyn Street’s Cavendish Hotel, sidle up to Lobby Bar and ask the bartender for the “Gold Medal”. Created by Cavendish’s head barman, Robert Gaggl, the “Gold Medal” – available now and through the rest of October – commemorates the Beijing Games and welcomes the Olympic Victory Parade on 16th of this month. Combining Kahlua, Finnlandia Vodka, espresso and milk......

Video courtesy of tikichris via the Londonist pool on Flickr Interested in your foodie images appearing on Londonist? Click here.......

A forthcoming publication of a new James Bond novel by Sebastian Faulks marks Ian Fleming’s 100th birthday and presents the perfect opportunity for 5th View (the fifth floor bar atop Waterstone’s Piccadilly location, Europe’s largest bookstore) to celebrate the occasion with a new martini menu. From 19 May to 30 June, 5th View will be shaking, not stirring, four classic and four contemporary new martinis. Spies for Londonist were able to obtain a top......

Hooray for 4 day weeks! And hooray for many seasonal celebrations. If only it would stop raining we'd be radiant with joy. This week we definitely can't afford to see the glorious New York City Ballet at the Coliseum (up to £95 a ticket!) so we made do with the reviews. Neither can we cover the costs of a bank holiday break away from the city but, hell - why would we want to......

Coconut, black pepper and rum frappé? Why not. Chive and pineapple with vodka? Sure. Maker’s Mark, Angostura Bitters and fig syrup? Hey, we’re so buzzed from the first two cocktails, at this point we’ll try anything. And at around six or seven quid per drink, we can (on rare occasion) actually afford a little frilly drink exploration. The Shish Bar and Cocktail Lounge in exotic Willesden Green (yes, the same Shish with that corner......

After the (non-)scandal of (un-)banned Tube posters, the works of Lucas Cranach the Elder are now well and truly on show at the Royal Academy. Painter, print-maker, illustrator, businessman, propagandist, and huge fan of the female nude, this is Cranach's first major exhibition in Britain. And while you're gazing at all the nakedness, remember; this was a mate of Martin Luther, and those erotic female nudes are all about Protestant devotion. Honest. Openings Ahoy!......

A night of beatboxing sponsored by Becks Vier is unfolding this Thursday at the Vibe Bar's new upstairs lounge. Human beatbox Shlomo will be performing with his awesome sounding Vocal Orchestra, in what should be the largest group of beatboxers ever assembled on one stage in Britain. This is an invite-only affair, but the organisers have kindly sorted us with a spare few tickets for Londonist readers. To get your hands on one of......

This week saw Londonist Get Scientific when we previewed We Are Scientists playing Soho Revue Bar this Tuesday, get excited about Eurovision and get cosy with Portico Quartet. A busy week all in all! Looking ahead to this week however, we have Eels playing Royal Festival Hall on Monday night. They've invited the Queen too, so it could be an amusing evening. Austin, Tx stars Spoon play a sold out show at Scala and rising......

Following the Oscars this weekend there are free film screenings all over town this week. Edify thyself and make new friends running across 5 different genres of movie for no expenditure whatsoever. Monday: The Duke Mitchell Film Club is holding heist night at the Cross Kings Bar on York Way with a long lost Italian heist movie "Seven Golden Men". The film starts at 8pm but there's also a "trailer trash" collection of vintage......

Though this story would have been more appropriate for Valentine's Day, this love letter from long ago was returned a week late for that lovey-dovey deadline. Still, this sentimental stuff tugs at our little heartstrings, so we're happy to report that a stolen love letter, dumped in a garden at an empty house in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, and picked up by police has been returned to its author, who is still alive at 98.......

Fancy seeing quite a big band in a teeny weeny venue? You're in luck! Tickets have just been put on sale for a Tiscali showcase at Soho Revue Bar. Headlining are We Are Scientists who are making a return with their 2nd album and single 'After Hours'. They seem to have lost the spikeyness and gone a bit Editors on us with the single at least, but at least they've still kept the fun.......

This week, Londonist caught two bands at either end of the musical scale - American metal stars Wolves in the Throne Room @ Underworld and the ever great Elbow at an intimate Porchester Hall show. We also started offering you the chance to win tickets to see Late of the Pier on February 28th. We also previewed the forthcoming second iTunes festival, which starts this coming Thursday. Looking forward to this week however, Monday night......

On a cold winter night in North London, we meet with hotly tipped indie pop beat combo The Wave Pictures before their gig at the Islington Bar Academy. Counting Jeffrey Lewis, Dean Wareham, Darren Hayman and Herman Düne as fans David Tattersall (vocals, guitar), Franic Rozycki (bass) and Jonny 'Huddersfield' Helm talk to us about their inspirations and what it's like to be finally getting recognition after years of obscurity. How would you describe......

We've not done very well on the virtuous January front and seem to have spent all our money and most of our nights out on the lash with a flagrant disregard for propriety and our bank account. We don't mind though because, as usual, there are some excellent free things to do in town this week. Monday: British Asian gangsta folk ska punk is where it's at with the intriguing sounding Barbar Luck at......

Nu-metal stars Linkin Park are the main draw on Monday night, with support coming from the mighty Biffy Clyro as they play the first of two consecutive nights at the O2, and whilst tickets are all sold out, there are a few floating around on Scarlet Mist and such like. Stephen Fretwell plays a sold out show at The Troubadour, and reggae star Finley Quaye plays the first of a three night stay at the......

Perhaps your New Year’s resolutions have all made their way to the rubbish bin by now. You’re sneaking ciggies again, you’re spending more nights at the pub than not, and you’ve worked out exactly two times, despite the shiny new gym membership. Don’t worry, you’re in good company. The history of literature is filled with stories of writers and their vices. It may just be a sign of genius. Still, you can up your......

Three weeks into the New Year, probably one week until payday and telly's rubbish (except for new CSI), the weather's grey and the detox is wearing thin. Don't give in to those January blues! Here's what can get you out of the house for not a lot of wonga this week. Monday: This is the most depressing day of the year. We've said it before but we're going to say it again because we......

The only music star to be his only Cockney rhyming slang, James Blunt is playing Hammersmith Apollo on Monday night and also Tuesday night, though unsurprisingly tickets are all gone for now. Meanwhile, if you like something a bit more country-fied and American, then Texan Ryan Bingham plays the Borderline. Tickets are £12.50 from See Tickets. Tuesday sees The Kills grace the Soho Revue Bar, though tickets are sold out. New Indie-pop scenesters The Voom......

January is a toughie. Torn between new year's virtue and that rebellious streak? Well, here are some things to amuse you that at least wont tug too hard at your purse strings. Monday: Witch hunts to start the week at Gresham College from 6pm. Free knowledge. Tuesday: Are you a tech geek? Are you interested in search engines, the internet and web technology? Do you need to make more friends? Well, pitch up for......

Right, so you're either saving up to blow the last of the December salary on one helluva NYE out or you're just stony broke after Christmas/sales shopping. Either way, unless you're happy to simply hibernate for the week here are some ideas for New Year jollity on a budget. New Year's Eve: Follow our top tips and gird your loins for the massive fireworks display along the Thames, focusing on the London Eye and......

The Christmas turkey is cold and in sandwiches. A few of us have struggled back to work, carrying surplus chocolate to the office in a desperate attempt to stop our expanding waistlines. Which must mean it's about time to start panicking about what to do on New Year's Eve. Aside from rammed pubs, pricey nightclubs and awkward parties in someone's frontroom, the main focus for London will be squarely on the London Eye. Since......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. Here's our look back at the good, the bad and the hungry of 2007. Since starting What’s for Lunch? in May, we have reviewed forty lunch venues throughout London. We tried the arty, the hearty and the terribly farty. We stirred up a bit of controversy with a mildly approving review of an evil hot dog vendor. And, we......

There have been big changes at Londonist this year - we've had new staff, a new commenting system and a brand new tagging system installed so we had a lot to celebrate at the Christmas party. And as we're not keen on making trouble for ourselves, only for other people, we thought we would go to a party already arranged for us; last night a hearty party of Londonistas headed off to the Barbican......

In which we spend a night with some decayed, 17th century dudes, in the catacombs beneath London Bridge. Beneath the Surrey side of London Bridge, behind doors that once led to the robot-kitsch Cynthia's Bar, a new attraction is taking shape. The London Bridge Experience will open in February. Part museum, part CGI scare-fest, the LBE will take visitors on a historical tour of the 2000 year-old crossing, and down into previously disused catacombs......

Londonist asks that most pressing of daily concerns: where to go on your lunch break. Betjeman’s 44 Cloth Fair EC1A 7JQ Nearest Tube: Farringdon 0207 600 7778 12pm-3pm for Lunch(Monday-Friday) 6pm-9pm for Dinner (Monday-Friday) 12pm-11pm for drinks (Monday-Friday) Map Expect to Pay: £10 or more for lunch Rating: 8 out of 10 Across the street from celebrated Club Gascon (with a list of accolades out its coulis) and hardly more than a belly roll......

After a quick break travelling the US, this Londonista is back to normality bringing the weekly roundup of whats happening in London. Monday night sees Oakland metal stars High on Fire grace UL. Tickets are available for £12 each on the door or from See tickets. Reformed 90's Brit rockers Shed Seven grace Shepherds Bush Empire, with a few tickets left at £17.50 each, if you really must indulge your nostalgia. Finally, Scritti Politti plays......

Every day this month the Londonist team will be pointing you in the direction of a Christmas present that (with a bit of luck) you won't already have on your list. Climb up onto our collective lap and we'll see what we can move from our sack to your stockings... For the friends and family members who seem to always be busy with art exhibitions, arthouse films, dance, theatre and music of a more......

People keep mentioning The Wave Pictures to us. First we caught them supporting Architecture in Helsinki back in September, and tomorrow they play the final of 4 Tuesday night sessions at the George Tavern, Whitechapel. It's an amazing venue but not to everyone's tastes. Candlelight, cheap beer and a relaxed atmosphere, slightly reminiscent of an old village pub but with a mixed and lively bohemian crowd. The paint is peeling and you can't help......

This week’s events are top-heavy with poetry readings. Have our novelist friends squirreled themselves away to write tomes in their Christmas cards, we wonder? Monday: Head to the RADA Foyer Bar for a reading from the Poetry School’s third anthology, I am twenty people! All inferences to the contrary, there will actually be six, not twenty, new poets reading from their work. Free, 7.00pm. Tuesday: We were reminded last week that poetry isn’t just......

So last Thursday we went to see Londonist-favourites Mitch (whom we interviewed a couple of months ago) play at the rather ambitiously-named Pleasure Unit in Bethnal Green. Here’s what we took away from the gig: A high-pitched ringing in the ears. Two guitars plus one bass plus one drummer plus forceful vocals plus small venue equals a very loud gig. The venue is OK, but not great. Sure, the bar staff are nice. But......