LIVELY LONDON
Infusion of food, fashion & culture have revived city
For all its centuries-old treasures — Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben still provoke gasps — London’s morphed beyond recognition from the grey metropolis of my first trip there 30 years ago. England’s capital city is booming, and it feels more kaleidoscopic and cosmopolitan than ever. From food to fashion and culture, there’s a confidence and color that makes even New York City feel a little demure. Brexit headlines be damned, it’s a great time to visit. Rejuvenated neighborhoods have infused once-derelict parts of London with new dynamism. I was determined to get off the tourist track and explore them. With its location adjacent to the Covent Garden district in the West End area, the ultra-stylish One Aldwych (onealdwych.com) made an ideal home base — and set the tone for my whole trip. Forget stereotypes of stuffy British luxury. Warmth and wit rule here, with puckish design touches and ubiquitous pops of color. One Aldwych’s restaurant, the Basque-leaning Eneko (eneko.london), wowed me with precise, playful plates like a cauliflower medley of pearls, chips, and cream all made of the white vegetable. Waterloo Bridge, which crosses the River Thames, faces the hotel’s front door. A stroll across, especially at sunset, makes a breathtaking introduction to London, with landmarks like OXO Tower and the Gherkin tower to your east and the London Eye, Big Ben, and Parliament to the west. The bridge’s southern end drops you in one of London’s most buzzing neighborhoods: Bankside, where quirky storefronts are blossoming under railway arches and old factories.
A short walk led me to the Old Union Yard Arches (www.unionyardarches. co.uk) and a peek at this area’s future. Once garbage-strewn, spaces underneath rail arches now house hopping restaurants like meat mecca Macellaio RC (macellaiorc.com) and culture hubs like the new Africa Centre (africacentre. org.uk) gallery and concert hall in the Southwark area. Starting to flag a bit from travel, I spotted a pub-like outpost of local coffee chainlet, The Gentlemen Baristas (thegentlemenbaristas.com). A superb espresso, made of locally roasted Wogan Coffee beans, revived me.
Walking back to One Aldwych took me past the National Theatre (nationaltheatre.org.uk) and British Film Institute (bfi.org.uk), part of the constellation of cultural jewels along this side of the Thames. The spectacular Tate Modern (tate.org.uk/visit) galleries and the massive Southbank Centre (southbankcentre.co.uk), Europe’s largest arts complex, are spread across the banks, and exploring them is worth a day on its own.
After resting up, I headed back out to explore beyond Covent Garden and Soho, the nearby tourist magnets. A quick walk east on the curving Strand thoroughfare led me to Fleet St., once the beating heart of London’s thriving tabloids, and now an august-looking finance hub. Locals outnumbered tourists along the street and its tributaries.
I stumbled on a tableau of Fridayafternoon street scenes: Drinks in hand, crowds of smartly dressed twentysomethings were toasting the weekend outside pubs with names like the Edgar Wallace (40 Essex St., London WC2R 3JE), Temple Brew House (templebrewhouse.com), and Punch Tavern (punchtavern.com). Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Samuel Johnson drank at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (145 Fleet St., London EC4A 2BU), whose roots stretch to 1538. Tucked inside a Fleet St. office courtyard, it’s still a draw.
Fleet St. ends at the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral (stpauls.co.uk), designed in 1673 by Sir Christopher Wren. Its superb art collection inspires as much awe as its majestic architecture. Bill Viola’s permanent video installation “Mary” — in which Jesus’ mother carries his body — will haunt you.
For dinner, I hopped a red doubledecker bus north to Exmouth Market (exmouth.london), a low-slung strip of indie shops and eateries in the oncedingy Clerkenwell neighborhood. My destination: Berber & Q Shawarma Bar (shawarmabar.co.uk), one of the city’s most buzzed-about modern-Israeli restaurants. Stacks of cauliflower and eggplant in the windows clue you in to the veggie-focused magic here. Lush pumpkin borani, jewel-toned beet salatin, and smoky cauliflower shawarma lived up to the hype.
The Exmouth Market strip made for an engrossing afterdinner walk — and the only tourists I encountered spoke Italian or French. At the coffee bar/record-shop hybrid Brill (exmouth.london/brill), I scored Millie Jackson’s classic “Caught Up” CD and a killer espresso. And the irresistibly named Bagman and Robin (bagmanandrobin.com) offered bags and home goods made from highly unusual fabrics — like deconstructed kimonos. Just outside the market, I discovered Old China Hand (noordinarypub.com), a “proper pub” whose cheeky signs boast of unfriendly staff, a ping-pong table, “grumpy landlady,” and a bringyour-own-food policy. Its “only British drinks” roster includes rare local wines and UK beers like Cotswold Brew Co. lager.
En route to the nearest Tube transit station, I passed Sadler’s Wells (sadlerswells.com), one of the world’s most revered dance and performance venues. It boasted a full calendar of events from a raucous rock-n-roll circus to a tiny local troupe. While I spent a few more days getting lost in London, that moment captured everything that made this visit so memorable: A surprise around every corner, a constant reminder of London’s vibrancy.