The Empress, Victoria Park, London

I’ve committed the cardinal sin to which no self-respecting reviewer should succumb: on the day of my reservation at The Empress I googled it and read their reviews to date. Every one a winner, but then I’d already made my mind up I was going to like this place.

Carte Noire Instinct Launch

We’re seated in a silk-lined ‘pod’ with a small group of strangers, with a piped soundtrack featuring the slippery strains of modern jazz, low lighting, and a troupe of scantily-clad burlesque dancers. A honed, toned male model draws the curtains closed behind him. The stage seems set for some wholly unwholesome nefarious behaviour.

Bowmore Transports Londoners to Islay

Tired of city life and craving the rugged wilds of bonnie Scotland? Next week, purveyors of that top-drawer dram, Bowmore, will host an interactive event promising to transport guests to a galaxy far, far away… well, the island of Islay, found off the West coast and home to Bowmore’s distillery.