This independent bookshop resembles the libraries of a bibliophile's dreams. The Edwardian exterior is beautiful and befitting of the elegant High Street, but the interior took my breath away: long oak shelves, stained glass and sky lights. Specializing in travel, Daunt Books has two floors with books, maps and atlases artfully displayed and arranged by continent. Hand-pick a book, sit, dream of your next trip...
Looking for delicious home cooked comfort food, and a great breakfast served in the hip funky area of soho London- then look no further. The Breakfast Club is so good you will want to go everyday. There are some great egg dishes you must try with a big cup of great coffee- this is the place to be. Cool tunes are always playing in this no frills atmosphere for the hip and cool. If your not cool enough. No worries - there are 3 other locations in other parts of London. Enjoy!!!
On weekend nights, The Palm Court at the Langham Hotel, London’s classic spot for afternoon tea, transforms into a speakeasy-style gin bar. Sipsmith’s Jared Brown (featured in the October 2012 issue) worked with the Langham’s mixologist, Alex Kratena, to devise a menu that gives drinkers a quirky history lesson and showcases the complexity of Sipsmith Gin. The journey begins with the story of how gin was invented to save the citizens of London from their contaminated water supply, fizzes through Jean Jacob Schweppes’s invention of carbonation (five different levels for different digestive ailments), and ends with modern mixology. Those who don’t care for history lessons might be swayed simply by the menu’s drink descriptions. The Gineveristic, for example, made with Langham tea-infused syrup, tastes of “Genever sexy citrus tea bubbles.” 1c Portland Place, 44/(20) 7636-000. Open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 7pm-midnight.
Portobello Road is a colorful stretch of shops and stalls selling bric-a-brac and antiques. Part trendy neighborhood, part flea market. On Saturdays, thousands of people flock there for bargains. I recommend going on a weekday. You can have the place practically to yourself to mill around. Grab fish-n-chips to go and find an authentic souvenir.
One of my favorite pics from my recent trip to London I quickly snapped with my phone. A new friend I had just met told me that I simply must have afternoon tea in the top-floor restaurant at the National Portrait Gallery, and to sit by the window! I had have scones and jam before, nothing special about that...but these scones (which I found out are called Devon scones), with a hearty smear of clotted cream and a dollop of jam were an absolute revelation. The view, looking straight down into Trafalger Square with Big Ben in the distance, along with this quintessential British tradition, made for the most perfect London afternoon!
Monmouth in Borough Market has the most divine coffee. The coffee is so sweet and smooth you don't need to add sugar. They also serve fresh breads and jams on long communal tables inside.
Cozy atmosphere and no electric lights, just candles in a cellar underground....
An artsy bar in Soho’s Golden Square, Graphic serves punch in paint cans and swaps artistic themes through its menu and décor every six months. (This fall the focus is on 3-D art, complete with 3-D glasses to enhance the drinking experience.) Gin is the true motif at Graphic: The bar has a 182 entry-thick gin bible, and a gin club, the Juniper Society, which holds free tastings, workshops and discussions with different gin makers every two weeks. 44/20-7287-9241. Read "London Distilled," about the first new gin distillery to be built in London in nearly 200 years.
Culinary Superstar, Yotam Ottolenghi's eponymous spots are scattered around London's poshest neighborhoods. Most are takeaway shops with minimal seating. So load up a to go box with a few excellent salads. Like batons of roasted butternut squash dressed in garlicky yogurt and sunflower seeds or a medley of israeli couscous and roasted cauliflower, studded with bursting pomegranate kernels. But absolutely do not skip dessert. One of the best things I ate in London was a wedge of plum cake from Ottolenghi. I was greatly tempted by the dreamy s'mores displayed in the shop window, but the buttery plum cake won out in the end. My travelling companion chose an equally good but less decadent option, a light lemon pistachio polenta cake. Prices are calculated by weight, so the heavier your box of food, the lighter your wallet will be when you leave. The Kensington Ottolenghi location is just blocks from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Pick up a spread then head over for a picnic. http://eatrepeat.blogspot.com/2013/02/london-ottolenghi.html
Upstairs from Soho's pub, Coach and Horses, lies a wonderful cheeky little tea room, Soho's Secret Tea Room. You have to ask the bartender to be let upstairs. He will call the tea room to let them know you are about to make your way through the wandering back staircase behind the bar. Once there, you have your choice of homemade scones, tea sandwiches, and a lovely selection of English teas all served on mismatched floral china. The feeling is quite like an old English grandmother's living room, but there is a playful hip twist to the experience, with tattooed servers providing you with some of the best afternoon tea selections!
Lots of people don’t know that there’s a canal, Regent’s Canal, that winds through the middle of London. Hire a bike at Broadway Market, and you can carry on down the canal to Olympic Park. I want to get everyone rambling around London on back roads on bikes. —Sophie Howarth This story appeared in the Premier 2009 issue. Photo by Graham Marks. See all of Sophie Howarth’s favorite places in Shoreditch.
I watch as yellow-and-white Eurostar trains snake in and out of London’s St. Pancras train shed, a vaulted Victorian masterpiece of glass panels and iron arches. My room at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel has this floor-to-ceiling view: Passengers board the high-speed carriers headed for France or Belgium. Then, in an instant, they’re whisked out of sight. Are they off to work? Leaving a loved one? I wonder as I listen to the hum of the tracks. After a six-year, $240 million renovation, the Renaissance hotel opened in 2011, occupying sections of the former Midland Grand Hotel, which was built adjacent to the station 138 years ago. The building is a Gothic fantasy of red brick arches and turrets, crowned with a clock tower that rivals Big Ben. The main staircase, its crimson walls handpainted with 2,300 gold fleurs-de-lis, adheres to designer Gilbert Scott’s original vision. It spills out under a gilded ceiling, and the sinuous banisters evoke the curves of the tracks. I imagine Commodore Vanderbilt roaming the lobby; it was the St. Pancras that inspired him to commission New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. At the Booking Office—a bar fashioned from the station’s former ticket office—guests nibble on charcuterie and anchovy salad with quail eggs as they gaze out over the tracks. Although electric trains have replaced the old locomotives, the bar takes visitors back to the Age of Steam with punch concocted from Victorian recipes and served from a handmade copper bowl. When I retreat to my room in the Chambers wing, where 38 rooms branch off majestic arched hallways, I forgo the blackout curtains. I want to check on my Eurostars as they rumble quietly through the evening. A St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London 44/(0) 20-7841-3540. stpancrasrenaissance.com, from $436. This appeared in the May/June 2012 issue. Photo courtesy of St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel. More railway hotels: La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona Riffelalp Resort, Zermatt, Switzerland Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa, CanadaMount Lavinia Hotel, Sri LankaThe Balmoral, Edinburgh, Scotland
I had a 12-hour layover in London, strategically chosen around three things I wanted to accomplish - lunch with a friend @ Canteen Spitalfields, taking in the Damien Hirst exhibit at the Tate Modern, and Alternative London's free East End street art walking tour. Banksy, Stik, Toast and many others were on display in this 2.5 hour, awesomely informative tour in a neighborhood that fosters and attracts an amazing creative spirit - colorful, large, original.
At the Arch Bar and Wellington Lounge in London's Park Lane Intercontinental Hotel, high tea is served without the tea. Order the Poor Man's Punch if you fancy gin and you may find you can never go back to drinking alcohol from a tumbler. Arriving in its own teapot and with a proper cup and saucer, the first indication that it's no normal concoction is the white smoke that pours from the lidless rim of the pot. Dry ice imparts the theatrics. Pink and fizzing when it's poured into the waiting cup, it's almost off-putting to drink - at first. However, the cold mixture of Hendrick's gin, fresh lemonade, cucumber, orange, mint and strawberries with magical effervescence is delightfully refreshing on a hot summer day and hardly less fun even in winter. The drink owes its name to the period in London's history when gin was indeed a poor man's beverage, distilled in basements and consumed like water. These days, at upwards of £16 a serving, it's decidedly more high brow than low. Still, Poor Man's Punch is worth a bit of a dent in the wallet for the way it's served and the taste you'll remember long after you've consumed the last drop. Proper pinky salute optional.
More than 40 types of gin are offered at this Soho bar, which has its own gin club. Membership is free and includes access to rare gins. Read "London Distilled," about the first new gin distillery to be built in London in nearly 200 years.
The famous Westminster Abbey is a must-go place in London. It's where the recent Royal wedding taking place in 2011. As their own website described: "Kings, queens, statesmen and soldiers; poets, priests, heroes and villains - the Abbey is a must-see living pageant of British history."
This bar at the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel in the Mayfair neighborhood celebrates London’s gin-soaked history with 35 varieties of British-made gin. The Poor Man’s Punch, served in a teapot, pays tribute to posh Mayfair’s scrappier past; monthly Gin & Jazz nights transport guests to the 1920s, dancing flappers and all. 44/20-7318-8649. Read "London Distilled," about the first new gin distillery to be built in London in nearly 200 years.
Art lovers in London should not miss the Courtauld Gallery. Housing one of the best collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works outside of France, this museum features pivotal works by Manet and Van Gogh. The pastel walls, detailed crown work, and blond wood floors lend a bright airy feel to the gallery. When each painting represents the best of the artist's ouerve, the one or two hours you spend will feel like just a few minutes. The well proportioned museum will leave you satisfied without the fatigue that comes with a visit to somewhere like the National Gallery. Admission is cheapest on Mondays, £3 and the crowds are perfectly manageable, despite the discount. The Courtauld Gallery sits inside the grand Somerset House, which is well worth a wander in its own right. The cutting edge temporary exhibits in the main house are often free. The huge courtyard is converted into a skating rink in the winter, while featuring concerts and other cultural events during the rest of the year. If you have money to burn, splurge at the stylish Rizzoli Bookshop or fill up at the hipster-ish cafe.
The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2001 to become the Great Court, surrounding the original Reading Room.
At this lacquer box of a bar in Mayfair’s luxurious Connaught Hotel, white-gloved bartenders whisk over a martini trolley to create the drink tableside. Guests customize the martini with their choice of gin and homemade single-fragrance bitters. The recently refurbished surroundings, and bar snacks from Michelin-starred chef Hélène Darroze, round out the experience. 44/20-7499-7070. Read "London Distilled," about the first new gin distillery to be built in London in nearly 200 years.
An 18th century pub near the site where the Mayflower set sail for the new world, this eponymous pub is a pilgrimage site for Londoners and Americans. Order a local beer and custom cheese plate to enjoy on the deck perched over the Thames. It's enough to make an American want to move to the Motherland. Take the bus or the Tube to the Rotherhithe Station stop. 117 Rotherhithe Street SE16, then head for the river. 44/(0) 20-7237-4088, http://themayflowerrotherhithe.com/
There’s a lovely little courtyard behind the Royal Oak. On a Sunday morning, you can get coffee from the pub, tucked away from the flower market. —Sophie Howarth 73 Columbia Rd. 44/(0) 20-7729-2220. This story appeared in the Premier 2009 issue. Photo by Graham Marks. See all of Sophie Howarth’s favorite places in Shoreditch.
A store that may not be too familiar with the average tourist is Liberty, which is a classic emporium that sells clothing and household items. The magnificent historical Tudor building with wooden interiors has been serving customers since the 1920's. Go there to buy fabric (Liberty is famous for its British designs), have a bite at its restaurant, or simply to take pictures.
For a satisfying lunch near the St. Pancras railway station, head to Shrimpy's, a new restaurant in a former gas station opened by the owner of the hip Shoreditch restaurant, Bistrotheque. The decor is vintage Californian and the food is artful Peruvian. Everything we had was delicious, but I especially enjoyed the tuna tostada topped with avocado and fried onions and the pineapple crisp, pictured, a ceviche-like tower with mascarpone cream and a "salsa" of chopped pineapple and raspberries. King's Cross Filling Station, Good's Way (Look for the words "filling station" atop a spacy metal building). 44/(0) 20-8880-6111
Victorian, Edwardian, and period pieces from the 1920s through the 1950s are the specialty of this vintage shop off Brick Lane. We love their lace, and they always have a cool selection of gloves and hats. There is a cute café upstairs where bands play live music. 44/(0) 20-7739-0799. For the September, 2012 issue, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Opening Ceremony shared with us their favorite places in Argentina and around the world.
Under the Waterloo Bridge on the Southbank, you'll find second-hand books for sale at the outdoor Southbank Centre Book Market. I used to come here over the weekends, thinking it was only then the market was open. But now I've learnt it's open every day.
You can find afternoon tea served in many places around London. One cozy little spot for this British experience is the restaurant at Liberty, a wonderful emporium where the latest fashions sit alongside design classics. They start serving their afternoon tea quite early, at 12pm. So while the rest of the family had lunch, I couldn't resist indulging in some scones and sandwiches.
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