London
in England

It’s always difficult to find a table for a big group in London, but this little Hampstead cellar bar has the sweetest alcove for 10, which isn’t a complete pain to book. Plus the Spanish-and Italian-inspired small plates are designed for sharing: jamón Iberico, pan con tomate and whole sea bass followed by perfectly pretty basil and white chocolate tartlets. tAn insider address worth knowing.

Before the food stalls arrived on Maltby Street, wine-importing business Gergovie Wines was quietly doing its thing, with a secret, stripped back kitchen and bar. There are still no reservations, and only high stool seating inside the railway arch, but the restaurant is now adored in foodie circles. The natural wine is sourced from small-scale producers and the chalkboard menu is made up of terrines and tarts, smoked trout and chicken schnitzels. This is where restaurant critics eat on their night off.

From the group behind much-loved restaurants Portland and Clipstone, this little bistro is bringing French fine dining back into the London mix. The menu includes both snails and frogs’ legs for starters, rabbit with mustard sauce for main; and for pudding, perfect crêpes Suzette and crème brûlée. The prix fixe lunchtime menu is a more affordable entry point.

Part furniture store, part gallery, this edit of vintage and antique goods sourced from markets and dealers all over the world is impeccable. The merchandising is informal and non- hierarchical, so shoppers will find mid-century Italian furniture topped with colourful Mexican baskets. While the original is at 8 Holland Street in Kensington, this Westminster studio is now the flagship. There’s also a third gallery in Bath with three bedrooms upstairs to book. A treasure trove of contemporary design

Alex Eagle is the creative director behind stores for Soho House in Berlin, Soho Farmhouse and creative hub 180 The Strand. Her own boutique on Lexington Street stocks everything from hand-painted watering cans to green onyx side tables as well as her cult Alex Eagle Sporting Club stash – the cap of which went viral after Paul Mescal donned one. Artistically curated finds from a London tastemaker.

If you spot the brown paper bags of Allpress beans on the shelf of a London coffee shop, you know you’re on to a good thing. The Kiwi brand started as a small coffee cart in 1980s Auckland and is still at the top of the global game. Attached to the London roastery, this Dalston café serves one of the best espressos in the city.

A small theatre with an international reputation, the Almeida is on a mission to launch the next generation of actors. And it frequently does, with productions such as Annie Ernaux’s The Years and Peter Morgan’s Patriots transferring straight to the West End. This is the place to come to be in the know about the London theatre scene.

Parisian art dealer Almine Rech’s Grosvenor Hill space opened with a Jeff Koons exhibition. And while she may now be married to Pablo Picasso’s grandson, the art world influence is entirely her own. With a speciality in minimalist perceptual pieces, Rech also represents “master of light” James Turrell and the otherworldly work of John McCracken. A gallery at the cutting edge of the commercial scene.

London is a city with a world-class Indian food offering that includes everything from canteen-style Punjabi feasts at Tayyabs to two-Michelin-starred Gymkhana via the brilliant Dishoom. But it’s Gymkhana’s younger, funkier little sibling that is stealing its waiting list. Ambassadors Clubhouse is a low-lit warren of striped pillars and loud swirling carpets, where staff dish up crisp keema naans and resplendent pots of biryani. The Tamatar Martini is worthy of note – poured with just the palest tint of tomato, but with the flavour of a full-blown Bloody Mary. A lot of fun that’s hard to fault. 

When art dealer and restaurateur Andrew Edmunds died aged 79 more than 600 people turned up to his memorial. His wine-lovers’ restaurant is a slice of old Soho, dishing up homemade focaccia with smoky cod’s roe, pumpkin soup dotted with bacon and deep-fried buttermilk rabbit. The Academy Club he founded with Auberon Waugh (son of Evelyn) is still thriving upstairs. A perfect date spot to keep in your back pocket.

Annie Doble had her own vintage stall at Spitalfields Market aged 15, and was just 20 when she opened a small studio in Ibiza’s Old Town. Kate Moss and Sienna Miller shop there for her one-of-a-kind vintage finds, while Zendaya and Dakota Johnson have both worn Annie’s eponymous collection, which started as a way to switch up deadstock and is often hand-stitched with intricate glass beadwork. A joyful dress-up shop.

Designer Anya Hindmarch’s village is a collection of joyful and evolving stores on the Pimlico side of Pont Street. There’s been a mesmerising stationery shop and a kitsch scuba store as well as annual installations including a magical Christmas grotto and an ice cream project serving mad flavours such as Heinz baked beans and Branston piccalilli. Year round, head to Anya Café for a shopping pit stop of playful Battenberg slices and googley-eyed cupcakes. 

Find the best flatbreads in town at this little stall on Ridley Road Market. Stock up on the blistered and soft naan-like bakes for the freezer, or order one for lunch with cheese, egg or keema-style meat. Simple, affordable and satisfying. 

This bright sprawling space, situated on an unassuming corner in Fitzrovia, organises the most exclusive sample sales. Elbow your way through crowds of customers hoarding discounted A.P.C satchels or Toteme jackets for some seriously good finds. Just be sure to register on the website before you go.

This new restaurant is on the site of Le Caprice, while nightclub empresario Richard Caring has created a new Le Caprice inside The Chancery Rosewood. This is relevant because the Arlington Street Le Caprice is legendary in the history of London restaurants, with regulars that included Princess Diana and Kate Moss. Luckily, Arlington still feels a lot like the old haunt because Jeremy King (who ran it in its heyday) is back in charge. The stiff white tablecloths and London’s best shepherd’s pie don’t hurt.

The first property in this little hotel group was opened in Brighton in 2008 by a 20-year-old who reinvented his parents' B&B by inviting local artists for sleepovers (provided they painted on the walls). It now has outposts in Oxfordshire, Bristol and Cornwall, as well as this one, on a quiet Pimlico street – one of London’s best affordable hotels. It may feel laid- back but the team has a marvellous eye for design (cast-iron four-posters, pop art and vintage Anglepoise lamps), plus there’s a full English for breakfast.

Tony Conigliaro is the name to know on the London cocktail scene. And this Italian café meets drinking den on Old Compton Street – founded with coffee pro Marco Arrigo – is a winner. It’s famous for Tony’s Negronis: pre-made, aged and served chilled but without ice, in tiny coupes, plus cheese and charcuterie to snack on. Mini but magical.

Following the success of The Brutalist at the Oscars there’s been a renewed interest in the 20th-century approach to architecture. The Barbican Centre – part of a concrete estate with a couple of thousand prize flats and countless walkways – is one of the best places to explore it. Inside, there is world- class arts programming too: pop culture exhibitions in the third-floor gallery, Royal Shakespeare Company performances in the theatre and pay-what-you-can screenings in the cinema. Don’t skip the dystopian conservatory greenhouse.

Many may be put off by the queues at the original Barrafina, which is one of the few genuinely walk-in-only restaurants in the neighbourhood these days. Arrive early (perhaps ahead of a comedy show at Soho Theatre) and indulge in pan con tomate, ham croquetas and runny-in-the middle tortilla. Fast-paced tapas that are still the best around.

This two-storey restaurant, which spotlights Sichuan flavours, is just outside the official boundaries of London’s Chinatown. Representing a region famous for bright red broths and mouth-numbing dried-chilli concoctions, it’s somewhere for people who enjoy their rice with next-level spice. It’s also somewhere to stick to the specialities: sea bass in sizzling chilli oil or pork dan dan noodles.

In a red-brick Georgian townhouse on Dickensian-style cobblestones is a discrete guesthouse from the guys behind Hazlitt’s in Soho. In a juxtaposition to the cool, poured-concrete Shoreditch aesthetic, walls are painted in deep teal, sofas are upholstered in rust velvet and there are looming four-poster beds. Similarities can be drawn with the wonderfully eccentric Dennis Severs’ House, just a few doors down – don’t leave without a visit to the recreated Huguenot family home.

No interior designer in the past decade has made as much of a mark on the London scene as Swedish-born Beata Heuman. Step into her world at 188 Hammersmith (a former ballroom dancing hall) to discover her artistry in the form of knotted brass knobs and lights shaped like dodo eggs, along with her easily identifiable wallpapers and fabric. It’s generally appointment- only, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for the open-house hours, which happen every couple of months.