Last week we had Incognito in town, this week we have funk/soul/jazz legends Snarky Puppy. Led by three time Grammy award winning bassist Michael League, they will be hitting the stage at the Volkshaus this Thursday to promote their new album, «Immigrance». At the time of writing this there is (amazingly,) still a few tickets left so I strongly recommend buying the last few ones up.

Thursday also sees the start of the wonderfully titled «Porny Days» festival which, due to my appalling eyesight, i assumed was a festival for small horses. Closer inspection revealed that it is in fact a celebration of erotica and sexuality with films, music and other events taking place at various locations across the city. My favourite? I’ve got to check out «F*ck Me In The Ear», which is a audio installation rather then the other (and possibly quite uncomfortable,) option…

After all that erotism how about a kiss? In this case I mean a Comedy Kiss. Yes, Comedy Kiss is back at the Labor 5 with two great UK comics visiting. First up, Tom Houghton who has appeared on BBC One, Comedy Central and Channel 4 in the UK, receiving a plethora of 4 and 5 star reviews. He is followed by Harun Musho’d who, despite working in the House of Commons is actually part Swiss so presumably is able to give a unique insight on life over here. Chris Darwa, Michelle Kalt and Shane Norton complete the line up. Don’t miss it.

Good food, good wine, what could be better? In my humble opinion, nothing, which is why (after Comedy Kiss,) I am going to be checking out new pop up restaurant, Cave Populaire which opens this Friday. They are serving regional and seasonal dishes, sourcing ingredients from the market at Helveziaplatz. Wash it down with some natural wines from their favourite sommelier and a good night is had by all.

More openings, this time a shop in the self styled Tribeka district of Zurich. Sava Living is opening its doors for the first time, selling natural and organic products for face, body and hair. As it’s their grand opening they will be celebrating with food, drinks as well as DIY stations where you can make your own products. Ron Orp deodorant anyone?

You’ve eaten, grooved to funky sounds, laughed and now you smell good too. Take this new found bonhomie down to Spacemonki and check out UK drum and bass duo, The Prototypes who are gracing us with their presence. They’ve been filling floors since 2010 with their own material as well as remixes of act such as Avicii and Ed Sheeran.

As Christmas is nearly upon us you may have noticed the odour of chestnuts roasting on an open fire. In the run up to Christmas the Marroni stalls are as ubiquitous in Switzerland as mountains and cheese and we really, really love ‘em here. If you have never enjoyed warming your hands on a bag of chestnuts whilst strolling through the city then I highly recommend it, delicious and a perfect accompaniment to Christmas window shopping. That said don’t just enjoy them roasted. They are pretty versatile and are used caramelised as side dish for venison, served in a soup or even, (and i wrote about this here,) pureed and served as a desert. Yummy.