New women only restaurant - KC'z coming soon to Soho

We went along to KC'z restaurant on Friday for a tasting evening. This was a preview of the type of food that will be on offer and also a chance to check out this new women only space.

KC'z at Sofakingcool in evening set up

KC'z @ sofakingcool is a women only members restaurant. The membership enables the venue to restrict who can enter, however it is currently free to become a member.

KC'z restaurant can be found on Frith Street in Soho. Down some stairs, you turn into a bright room that is welcoming, clean, fresh and just a little bit classy.

Due to its restaurant status there is table service only which is rather pleasant and takes away the age old and hated tradition of queuing for a drink at a crowded bar.
The food we got to taste was nothing short of exquisite and included cinnamon duck, tuna fishcakes, steak and a chickpea curry. The flavours were rich, and seasoned to perfection.

 

The venue will be open Mon-Sun from 5pm. Fridays are over 21s and Saturdays are over 25s. The main menu is available until 10pm after which the menu switches to a more tapas/snack style menu until close. There is a DJ box to ensure quality tunes whilst you eat.

 

KC'z can seat 78 plus there are some lovely booths that are ideal for reserving for group bookings. There is also a little cinema room where you can relax with a few friends and catch a movie in an intimate setting.

 

This venue has it all; central location, class, good food, good service, music and much more.

 

The drinks will be standard Soho prices, so think £7.50 for a cocktail. There will be drinks specials during the evening.

 

Open Mon-Sat 5pm to midnight

KC'z are currently looking for a female chef and sous chef, so if you, or someone you know is looking for a position put them in touch!

KC'z officially opens on 1 February - we recommend that you book your table today!

To become a free member of KC'z, go to their website and complete the membership application form

 

L Fest: The Lesbian Music, Arts & Comedy Festival

Venue: Uttoxeter Race Course (new bigger, better venue for 2013)
Date: Friday 19th - Sunday 22nd July

L-Fest, the brain child of Cindy Edwards, is everything you could want out of a Lesbian Festival and more. An annual event that draws together women from all over the country offering excellent value for money, it is not to be missed.

What's On*
It's a full action-packed weekend with a wonderfully varied schedule: 

• Live Music stage (this year you can see BETTY of L Word Theme tine fame) + The hottest DJs from around the country including some of your favourite London nights
• Workshops on every topic you can think of (yoga, drama, singing, writing)
• Authors - performance poets and novelists read their work ( Clare Summerskill, Jackie Kay and VG Lee)
• Comedy - roars of laughter from the Big Top Stage
• Cinema - with special screenings of lesbian themed movies including Jill Bennett's Second Shot
• Activities and games - from rock climbing to rounders
• The retreat (massages, pampering & relaxation)
• Free camping for ticket holders, or upgrade to a Yurt, campervan or caravan

There is also a family areas, market stalls and the L Fest Solo Club for singles to  make new friends. Literally something for everyone.

*the full schedule for 2013 is listed on a separate blog post here: http://planetlondonfeatures.blogspot.com/2013/04/l-fest-2013-line-up-released.html 

L Fest is also an amazing success due to the hard work of the team behind the Festival. A happy crew of volunteers make sure everything that needs to happen beforehand and during the Festival Dates does so to ensure a top notch time for L Festers. 
 

The L Fest Team have worked very hard to find an accessible and multi-purpose venue that will fit everything that L Fest is renowned for offering and more - there is capacity at this new venue for 19,000 (L Fest 2012 entertained 1,000 women). Meet the team as they introduce the change of Venue to us:
Map of the site:

How to get involved

Weekend Tickets are available from £99 here. Camping is free but for an additional charge there are 76 electric hook up pitches. Day tickets will be available from £50. Children (under 16) and dogs are free!

By Katie

Femmes, Come out of your Shell with Pink Lobster Dating

Ever feel like you're invisible as a lesbian? If you identify as a femme/lipstick lesbian, you may feel doubly invisible - both within and outside of the lesbian community. And this can make it very hard to meet a love interest, especially a fellow femme. 

There can be a heck of a lot of espionage and signal-reading involved to work out if the object of your attention is a) gay b) single c) likes other femmes and d) seems attracted to you in any way. It's exhausting. Don't you wish there was an easier way to meet femmes, without having to come out repeatedly at social events and possess the romantic subtlety of a sledge hammer?

Well, now there is. As of February there will be a whole new world of opportunity to meet the one (or one of many) femmes for you, when Pink Lobster Dating launches it's 'Lipstick Lesbian Catch'. As the ONLY dating network in the UK specifically for lipstick lesbians, this obviously removes a whole layer of time and effort searching for femmes within a much wider net (no internet or lobster pun intended - ok, just a bit). 

The site allows the level of information and privacy that the user chooses - not enforcing a 'one size fits all' model - which reflects the fact that femmes are as diverse as the lesbian community as a whole. There are special safety features to ensure only genuine users and the site also features a community area where users can access professional advice, guidance and information in the form of videos, blogs and webinars. You can access the site now (in its pre-launch phase) at www.PinkLobsterDating.co.uk and win lovely things. Further details can also be found on FB.com/PinkLobsterDating.

Pink Lobster Dating will be holding an exclusive launch night on Saturday 9th February at the Shadow Lounge (5 Brewer Street, London W1F 0RF), featuring performances from Bashema, Joan ov Arc, The L Project and Nicolette Street from 18.00-22:00, followed by a club night until 03.00.

Tickets cost £11.50 and can be purchased via the Pink Lobster Dating website, Facebook or simply scan the QR code on the poster. All profits will go to support Diversity Role Models and Stonewall.

Join us to celebrate lesbian diversity, support two fantastic charities and launch the Lobster. Invisible no more.

Hannah Cooper, blogging in partnership with Pink Lobster Dating, is writer of the Femme Meets Femme blog on femme identity.

World Aids Day & G-A-Y - another successful year

It felt a little bit like the Red Ribbon campaign sadly lost its visibility this year, especially with images like this:


Spot the difference

But thanks to great initiatives like the mass HIV Testing Station at G-A-Y, this year 745 men and women took a test and got their results on the day. For each test, £10 is donated by Jeremy Joseph to the Elton John AIDS Foundation - which means it's a no brainer to go down and get tested if its not already part of your sexual health routine. Over £9,000 is expected to be raised by the end of the campaign.

This is the second year the campaign has run, I hope it becomes an annual event and bigger and better next year.

Coupled with an amazing line up at G-A-Y that brought the best of gay together - Rylan Clark and Lucy Spraggan in an unbeatable double bill, what a 1st December for Jeremy Joseph and G-A-Y/Heaven. I've always been very impressed that they get one of the first PAs of the X Factor Finalists as they exit the show week on week and this year has been even better matchedthan ever, as there has been a wealth of gay acts on the show - perhaps next year a new show will pop up 'Gays' got talent?!

New Music: Kenelis EP Launch

The new EP Launches this Friday at 100 Club in Central London. The launch event promises to be an exciting, entertaining celebration of this EP.

You can view the Music Video of the new single, GFY below - it's modern punk rock (a cross between Blondie and Hole) with a great Pop Art look.

 

'MOVE' EP Release!

The EP 'Move' will be released next Monday 10th December on itunes & all major download sites. For those of you that enjoy the whole creative package of a music release there are eco-friendly CD digipacks with full lyrics & exclusive Artwork by jTayam (AKA Jessie Thomas), which is available for pre-order NOW on www.kenelis.com/music. Pre orders will be sent out immediately so you will receive them before the release!

Pre-order now on www.kenelis.com/music

Read the EP review from music loving Donald Strachan from Generate Radio http://dstrachan.tumblr.com/search/kenelis

 Follow Kinelis us on Facebook & twitter to stay totally up to date @Kenelis @MelSanson

You can attend the launch event! 

Get there early to see fantastic support acts, Joan Ov Arc & Words From Willis
If you haven't got your tickets yet, do not fear! You can still order now on www.kenelis.com/tourdates
You will receive email confirmation for your tickets which you can use to get your tickets on the door.

Kenelis Stage time 10pm (45 mins)
Age restrictions: 18+ (bring ID)
£8 in advance 

Getting into the LFestive Spirit

On 1st December we broadened Planet London's horizons with a trip to Birmingham (the infamous Nightingale club to be exact) to join in with LFestive - the winter taster for the summer lesbian music and arts Festival LFest.

With a cracking line up demonstrating the Festival's pull with big name lesbian fan favourites (we got treated to performances from Horse, Greymatter and the L Project as well as speed dating from Gay Girl Net, performance poety, short films and a tea dance) we and several hundred lesbians and bi women from the Midlands and beyond (we met people from Leeds, Brighton and Chesterfield) had the full run on of the venue.

We had a fabulous time talking to lots of women from outside of London but who like to visit London. We told them all about the variety of events on offer to London's lesbians and bi women and they were jealous. Let's hope we see a few of them soon on the scene.

LFestive was great fun and a mere taster of the well structured 3 day outdoor summer event that has already whet our apetite. It's already got a cracking line up and a well deserved reputation as the place to be in July. Friendly volunteers worked hard to make us and the other stall holders feel welcome and looked after, and make sure all the guests were having plenty of fun. It's easy to see why LFest pulls in top draw names. 

My Kingdom for Horse: Interview with Horse

We caught up with Horse at LFestive in Birmingham on December 1st, who performed some classic tracks and also alongside the L Project performance of charity single "It Get's Better". 

Lovely Horse

Horse credits her longstanding music career, which spans some 30 years, to determination, self belief and the power of her songs. It hasn't been the straightforward career-in-a-box many young hopefuls pitch for on the reality TV circuit, turbulent in terms of opportunities coming and going, and personal challenges too. However, the songs speak for themselves, and quality and integrity of songwriting is something Horse prides herself on. Originality, too, and being unafraid to stay true to her music rather than become part of the pop music marketing machine.

For Horse, the song always comes first. But, as her career has developed, so has the writing. She writes songs knowing she will perform them, they are geared towards her performances, she says the performance is "bound up in the song". We have to say this is true of the performance we saw yesterday, which included new song 'Soldier' (available on itunes) and classic 'Speed beat my heart'.

In particular, 'Coming up for Air' (2009) explores the experience and the grief of loss, which she finds resonates with many of her audience. Moving people with music is her measure of success, that and fans who have stuck with her throughout the span of her career, fans who share their enthusiasm with the next generations. 

Horse's involvement with the 2012 L Project song 'It Get's Better' follows the same rationale. Growing up gay, there were no role models or lesbian visibility for Horse, and it was a difficult time coming out. It still is for many young people today, but artists from the L Project showed that we have the opportunity to get the message across to young LGBT people that it will be worth the struggle in the end.

We discussed inspiration. Horse's music has always emoted raw, deep honesty and Horse talks openly about the desperation to escape a small town mentality that formed the original inspiration and motivation to write, "writing saved my life" she says, simply.

Back to the present day, Horse has just finished her latest UK tour, in preparation for her upcoming album (shortly to be released). 2013 offers personal celebrations in the form of marriage and a huge gig in Glasgow with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her second album 'God's Home Move' and new album 'Home'.

It might seem like life and career highlights will all be taking place next year, but there have been a number of high points along the journey for Horse, she remarks it's hard to choose just one, and with a career that includes concerts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra,  touring with BB King and Tina Turner and 6 albums it's not hard to see why.

For details of upcoming gigs, and how to get hold of that new album (as well as the wonderful back catalogue) visit www.randan.org.

By Katie