London has a tried and trusted way of adapting American themes to suit British and international tastes. The New York style brasserie is now a staple on London’s culinary scene with Covent Garden’s Joe Allen being a particularly convivial example. Premiership football teams like Spurs are incorporating USA style cheerleaders and mascots and even pizza parlours with Italian menus like to give their menus a transatlantic twist. Absorb, adapt and advance seems to have become our unofficial motto going into the New Year.

The end of January provides a real chance to close the gap on at least one of the leaders. Manchester United will be visiting Wembley and it will be fascinating to compare the two most prolific strikers in English football, especially as Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku will be facing one another in the World Cup later this year.
http://www.wembleystadium.com/Spurs-at-Wembley/Spurs-Fixtures.aspx

Hannigan pursues cute little Annie through 1930s New York as she searches for her family with the help of billionaire, Oliver Warbucks but we all know that love and kindness will prevail. If you’ve only seen the most recent film, you’ll find this production’s old-school renditions of “Tomorrow” and “Hard Knock Life” quite refreshing.

It’s going to be a popular recipe in this part of the West End with karaoke nights, guest DJs and live music all in the mix. The drinks list is a mammoth 24 pages long and the pizzas have names like “Julius Cheezer” and “Italian Stallion” which lets you know that this corner of Covent Garden will be buzzing long into the night.

All is well, however, as every stained floorboard, piece of clutter and weird artefact has been put back in place in the new address. The menu also stays the same with grilled swordfish and bespoke burgers providing sustenance for the likes of Sheridan Smith and Christopher Biggins.