Andrea Levy’s parents came to England, from Jamaica, in the great ‘Windrush’ exodus after WWII. She was born a few years later and grew up in London, which still then was a very white city, the capital of a very white nation. Her experiences of growing up have informed all of her books and writing, including breakthrough novel, Small Island. She will read and discuss her new novel, The Long Song, set in the dying days of Jamaican slavery, at Kaufleuten this evening. I have 3x2 tickets to give away.
E-mail me.
Thursday 8 pm, Kaufleuten

This Friday, Funny Laundry hosts another great comedy double bill. First up is the ever droll, hilarious and slightly curmudgeonly Arthur Smith, who surely will be one of the faces carved into the Mount Rushmore of British alternative comedy when it finally gets built. The second act is The Provocateers, a double act made up of Steve Bowditch, a regular support of Harry Hill, and Paul the Poet, who both will bring the rough and tumble of SE London’s comedy circuit to Zurich.  Prepare to be Deptford-ed.
Friday 8 pm, Mascotte

M4music is essentially an annual music conference designed to bring together industry types to network and generally improve music for all our listening pleasure, but what if I’m not in a band, Ron?, I hear you ask. Fear not; as there are also many artists who are playing live just to show us all how it should be done. The concerts are based in and around Schiffbau and include both international and Swiss artists.  Some of my favourites include Friendly Fires, Tynchy Stryder, Frittenbude and, what might be the last chance to see them live, The Streets.
Friday and Saturday 8 pm, Schiffbau

Cocuna gets itself a facelift this weekend for a one-off event called, strangely enough, One Off. They promise to make the place unrecognisable in both décor and sounds, as the dj’s are playing a heady mix of reggae, ragga and dancehall. If you’re looking for somewhere to lose and forget yourself for the night then this seems a perfect venue. Once it changes back to normal, don’t blame me if you can’t find it again.
Saturday 11 pm, Cocuna

I believe the children are the future, and with Sting disappearing up his own tantric wormhole over the last few years, let’s hope his daughter I Blame Coco can build on his musical legacy. She, and her synth emo-pop, play Kaufleuten on Tuesday. Alternatively, if you like your rock music served hard with a side potion of England then Sahara Rain could be for you. They’re a local band that has used the talents of an English producer, who has worked with The Libertines, Sex Pistols and Thin Lizzy, for their new album. They have their cd release party at Mascotte and if you’re in the mood for something to rattle the fillings in your teeth, these boys turn the rock all the way up to 11.
Tuesday 8.00 pm, Kaufleuten
Tuesday 8.30 pm, Mascotte

The venue itself is worth visiting one of the concerts of the ewz unplugged series. And of course the artist themselves. Four acoustic concert nights reach across jazz, soul, chanson and singer songwriter. Some of the musicians are Swiss (such as Caroline Chevin who won the Swiss Music Award a few weeks ago) and some are not (such as Brazilian João Bosco). I have 2x2 tickets to give away.
E-mail me for tickets
30 March –  2 April,

ewz Selnau

It’s been a while since a restaurant convinced me as much as Limmathof. I had lunch there a couple weeks ago and ever since I can’t stop going on about the beautiful meal – the taste still lingers in my mouth. You can tell, I’m hooked. And there is no reason not to be. Limmathof is a social project in my beloved district Kreis 5, serves great food at fair prices, the staff are very friendly and the venue itself is bright and spacious.
Limmatstrasse 217

Monday was the official date for spring to start. And nature heard and brought out the sun. In that spirit the city opens the grill season. At GZ Wollishofen and at Zürichhorn there are two public electro-grills. The council installed them three years ago because the one-way-grills became more and more popular and they’re burning the grass. So you only have to remember the food for your grill party. Both of the large grills are plugged in again and wait for your first BBQ. They function between 6 am to 11 pm.

Meantime is a furniture shop at the corner Rousseaustrasse / Kornhausstrasse. So far so good.  But the location and the concept are fairly unusual. The sale room is in a garage, so there is no exact address. And it’s open only one weekend per month. Sound like a place for finding hidden treasures.
Saturday 1 pm – 5 pm & Sunday 2 pm – 5 pm, Meantime

First dates are a difficult undertaking. You want to know all the things that matter to you most, but there is only so little you can directly ask. Okcupid attempts to end this mystery with a research project. They took their own database of more than 275,000 match questions and 776 mio answers. Read about how you can find out the things you really want to know without asking them.