London, Done Right — Even If You Think You Know It
Including how to get into a members club as a non-member, the best aesthetic doctor on Harley Street, and an atelier by the granddaughter of the pattern cutter to Monsieur Christian Dior
You can know London pretty well and still land there and realize the trip you planned is…slightly off. Not in a catastrophic way. You’ll still eat well, you’ll still go to good places. It just becomes obvious, quickly, that there are better reservations, better rooms, better ways of doing the same trip that you’re not quite in on yet.
That’s usually the gap. This is a short list of the places that close it. You can thank me later. But trust me. Even incorporating one thing from this list will astronomically improve your next trip to London, whether you’re looking for advice on how to get into a members club without actually being a member, the best aesthetic doctor on Harley Street, or an atelier by the granddaughter of the pattern cutter to Monsieur Christian Dior in the 1950s.
Some things on this list are the obvious ones—you’ve seen them everywhere for a reason. Some are the swaps. (We all love Gymkhana, but I can do you one better.) And it’s not an exhaustive list, either. If it was, it would be as big as London, and no one has time as that. Not you, not me.
And as always, I want your opinion. You’re here because you have one. Most of you send it to me directly (email or DM) but when something is worth sharing, it should be shared. Example: Last week I mentioned the line at Eagle Bar and a few of you immediately said it wasn’t worth it. That’s useful context for anyone deciding whether to go. Make some well-educated noise, in good taste.
So without further ado, here’s a list of places to dance and drink, a maintenance circuit, where to shop, what I ate, and everything else worth mentioning.
PLACES TO DANCE OR DRINK
Have you been to Celeste?
Don’t be worried if the answer is no. It hasn’t even been open for two months yet. (Which means, of course, I had to go even though I only heard about it two weeks ago). Celeste is in the old Beach Blanket Babylon on Ledbury Road in Notting Hill, from the same group as Maison Estelle, so the membership overlaps. It’s the first proper members club in the area, which is definitely making some noise, as all the others are sort of grouped together.
