I have a real loathing of places which refer to themselves as London’s “best-kept secret,” but Sticky Mango actually deserves the accolade. It’s not wedged into Southbank’s busy arteries which overflow with humdrum chain restaurants. Instead, this Waterloo outpost is quietly but conveniently located on Coin Street, close to the Old Vic, the National Theatre
Covent Garden is London’s living theatre, a canvas of the city’s enchanting past and its immersive present. It was once Nell Gwynn’s playground with her King, and home to the oldest theatre in London with its 500 ghosts of theatre past. Eliza Doolittle sold flowers to Mr Henry Higgins outside St Paul’s Church, the first
There are some places in London that simply take your breath away. The Arab Hall in Leighton House is one of those. The Soane Museum is another, as is Two Temple Place. Then I visited Fitzrovia Chapel where every square inch screams of bling without a Swarovski crystal in sight. This may just be London’s
I’d like to say this is going to be a cultural post, but in all honesty, it’s going to have some adrenaline thrown in with a dash of James Bond. Having said that, you get to see London’s most iconic sights with me, something I don’t talk about very often, as I prefer to showcase
Harry’s Bar. Don’t you just love those two words? It instantly brings to my mind the bitter taste of a pomegranate-coloured Negroni, Harry’s style, in Venice. There really is nowhere else in the world where I would rather sip my favourite drink. So, imagine my excitement when I heard Harry’s Dolce Vita, had opened in
Miami. The American Riviera with its pastel palaces, its swaying palms and Art Deco curves is one of my favourite haunts when I need a break from the slate-coloured skies at home. Eye-popping art and sleek design sit in every corner and crevice of this sorbet-coloured city, so it’s surprising to those who know me
The Victorian Afternoon Tea at the Victoria and Albert Museum had me at seed cake. These two words always bring my childhood back in a whoosh of nostalgia wrapped in a cocoon of Englishness. If seed cake was good enough for Bilbo Baggins and his Unexpected Party, then it’s good enough for Londoness. And thanks
As London revs its engines to re-open after lockdown, I speak to the famous English dandy Beau Brummell. He shares his favourite London secrets and tells me how he would like to have tea with the Duchess of Cambridge. Where do you buy those exceedingly good cravats? I like to shop in Regent, Bond, Jermyn,
The Palace of Westminster, or Houses of Parliament as it’s commonly referred to, is one of London’s ultimate tourist hot spots, even if Big Ben is hibernating for the next three years whilst he gets a makeover. When I first arrived in London in the late 1980s, I would count the days until megalomaniac MP
If you’ve been watching Victoria Series 3, then you’ve recently come across Henry Cole, Prince Albert’s wingman in the creation of the visionary Great Exhibition of 1851. What you probably didn’t know is that the exhibition, dubbed The Greatest Show on Earth and housed inside the glittering Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, would one day