Weekend Getaway: Our Guide to London
May 23, 2011
HiP Paris friend, contributor and wonderful illustrator Badaude is coming out with a gorgeous book, London Walks, chock-full of witty drawings and snapshots into the lives of Londoners. In honor of the book launch happening next Monday at Shakespeare & Co, we asked Badaude to give us her top spots to hit up in London for a weekend getaway… Check out her list below for the places to stay, eat, drink, shop and stroll. PS: And if you’re in Paris, feel free to stop by Shakespeare & Co next Monday night to celebrate the launch of London Walks and more! -Geneviève
Badaude’s new book, London Walks
Stay at The Zetter Townhouse:London’s newest and hottest hotel is a clutter-chic bijou Georgian townhouse in the quiet square behind the original Zetter Hotel. Bedrooms are a riot of eclectic 19th century fun. Mine had a bedhead and wall panel taken from a French 3rd Republic carousel, an ipod dock housed in a red retro radio and, most stunningly, as well as the state-of-the-art drench shower in the bathroom, a mahogany-pillared bath set into an alcove in the bedroom.
Zetter Townhouse
Downstairs mixologist Tony Conigliaro’s hot cocktail bar looks like a London pub (busy Victorian paintings and pleasingly eccentric taxidermy) only more comfortable. Kick back on one of the cozy sofas and let staff serve you tapas-style snacks as you study the innovative drinks menu. With so many clever inventions it was a tough choice, but I wasn’t disappointed when I ordered a Somerset sour (apple brandy, cider, gomme and lemon) – a heavenly ice-cold balance of sweet and sour. My date went for a sharp Richmond (Chivas Regal, apple honey & Lillet blanc ). Both arrived in cute retro glasses — the perfect finishing touch. We picked at a platter of delicious pates and Parma ham, fresh buttery radishes, English cheeses and sardines on toast pimped with a pimento puree, accompanied by a carafe of aromatic Jurancon sec (£30 for 50cl). We felt too full to make use of the bar’s table tennis room afterwards.
Zetter Townhouse
Rooms from £185. The Zetter Townhouse Website.
Eat at: St John.This is hardly news to residents, but if you only eat out once in London, you won’t find an experience more British than Fergus Henderson’s legendary ‘nose to tail eating’. If the whitewashed restaurant pushes the abbatoir look a little beyond your comfort zone, the meaty menu lives up to the ‘everything but the squeak’ premise. The last time I was there I had a roasted marrow bones with parsley salad (£7.10) followed by Calf’s liver and shallots (£18.40) . Was there a part of the menu that wasn’t offal? The British cheeses and Eccles cakes (£6.80) were sublime.
St John
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