Destinations

AMERICANS LOVE London for a lot of reasons, aside from what we laughingly say about Londoners speaking almost understandable English. It’s a city with endless diversified pleasures for all tastes.

In the summertime it’s a great place to join with people from all over the world. I spent a week there last summer savoring the scene, before taking a Princess cruise around the British Isles.

Dining, drinking or walking the summer streets in London is almost like being everywhere else at the same time. The joyful chatter coming from visiting tourists is a cacophony of up to 80 different languages and it’s mostly happy talk. The attraction of London is universal.

Being in London is an immersion in culture, entertainment, shopping, dining or simply pub crawling. The London pubs are so crowded on weekend evenings, it’s standing room only extending out on the sidewalks. Soho is the place to see and be seen. Londoners are beer drinkers and the suds flow freely from taps not bottles. Any pub will have an assortment of up to a dozen or more different beers and ales to pull.

Daytime in London is a totally different scene, whether it’s upscale shopping at the world’s greatest department store, Harrods, or mixing with the lower end at Camden Lock. There are thousands of stalls at Camden Lock selling everything from far-out clothing and jewelry to trendy and more traditional things. For people watching it’s hard to beat this outdoor circus atmosphere.

Not to be missed is the London theater scene, better than New York’s Broadway for a number of reasons. London theaters are many, and mostly on the small side. No matter where you sit to watch a performance you feel more intimately involved because you are closer to the stage. And the cost of admission usually is less.

Except for the few truly hit shows, which are sold out well in advance, half-price tickets are the rule rather than the exception. In Leicester Square the city operates a booth selling tickets for many of that day’s matinee and evening performances at half price. Private ticket agents with stalls and offices in the surrounding streets also offer bargain-priced tickets for shows that may not be available at the city booth, and you can get tickets there for future performances.

One way for an economical theater evening is to purchase a package deal, dinner and the theater at cut-rate price for both. Numerous ads for this are available by looking for “London theater-dinner package” on Google.

London is a shopper’s paradise. If its toys you’re after, London has the greatest toy store in the world, Hamley’s. This store on Regent Street, near Oxford Street, is 249 years old with five floors of extensive displays of things to amuse and delight youngsters. It’s more than just displaying toys. It includes demonstrations. Hamley’s employs 50 young people to show you what you can’t live without once you see what it can do.

For a unique dining experience my favorite is an off-beat crypt in St. Martin in the Fields Church, at Trafalgar Square. The crypt floor consists of well-trodden tombstones of historic church figures. It’s a huge room with open seating tables. There is a self-service, cafeteria-style section serving both hot and cold dishes, all delightfully prepared. But the piece de resistance is a superb bread pudding, the like of which is unmatched even in the city’s high-priced restaurants.

London can be expensive for a visitor. The exchange rate with the pound hasn’t been good for the dollar lately. Hotel rooms do run high. But, there’s a good way to lower that cost. If you plan to stay at least a week, rent a furnished apartment. You get all the comforts of home in a prime area at maybe half the price of what a hotel would cost. Search for these apartments by Googling “London furnished flat.”

The song may say, “I love Paris in the springtime.” But summers in London are cooler in temperature and warmer in almost every other way.

Ed Arnow can be reached at BrentwoodBuzz@aol.com.

I checked into the Dorchester yesterday after my 4 days at Claridge’s. Was debating spending my last night in London at either Gordon Ramsey or here. Here won out. The dining room has few hard edges. It’s very rounded, kind of like the Flintstones’ house. Colors are similar, too. Although it’s fairly dark, it’s creamy tones of beige and light brown. To the side of the room, but still surrounded by other tables and directly in front of me, there is a an oval shaped private dining area. It’s secluded from the rest of the room by light filled threads hanging from the ceiling. It’s very difficult to describe but it’s pure 3D fantasy. Inside (I peaked earlier) is a small table for 2 with a crystal candelabra (I barely see the flames from my table).

07 May 2009

2025 hrs
1st course is a soup with chunks of crayfish. The base is fois gras. It’s served in a porcelain egg, the top of which is removed as it is served and placed on the plate. All is color coordinated. Subtle earth tones. It’s fantastic. Who ever heard of a broth of foie gras?

Delicate crayfish veloute, royal of fois gras

2039 hrs
2nd course over. Need to research what celeriac is. Scallops were sliced very thin and tasty with black truffle. Could have passed on this course which is too bad because it’s only in the last couple of years I’ve started to enjoy scallops. So far best I had was last year in Cabo.

Invited to visit the Kitchen. This is really becoming fun now.

Rose of marinated scallops. Lamb’s lettuce and celeriac. Black truffle sauce.

2042 hrs
3rd course. The colors are orange, white, browns and the halogen light from above glitters in this amazing sauce. It’s frankly difficult to figure out exactly what’s here as the menu is vague and the waiters’ English could be a little clearer. Mushrooms are amazing but there are only two.

My Alain Ducasse champagne is refilled. Brut. 50% chard. 50% Pinot. Made by Lanson.

One of the waiters takes a swig of red wine before going back to his customer. That’s the way I’d do the job.

Restaurant is getting livelier as a group of men arrived. It’s a small place so the noise is noticeable, but certainly fine.

Roasted Chicken and Lobster, sweetbread, creamy juice.

2057 hrs
Halibut et al. The citrus sauce is fantastic. The fish is a small chunk, served warm, over a brothy citrus sauce. To the side, tomatoes (no, they’re actually kumquats sliced thin! Or mandarini cinesi*) and swiss chard. But discrete . The fish is served over an aubergine puree.

Bread dish is pain du pi (sp? - as in hair my Sardegnan waiter explained) We’re speaking Italian now and it’s easier.*

Braised halibut, citrus and swiss chards, eggplant condiment.

2114 hrs
How does one find potatoes this small? Maybe ¾ of an inch in diameter. But very flavorful. This mini rack of lamb is again, full of flavor. The meats falls off the bone. Mini vegis are cute. Like the other courses so far, the plate is bathed in sauce, this one from the lamb.

A very hot young couple just sat down next to me, but they’re pretty private. She’s wearing leggings with a tight top that just covers her bum and he’s wearing tight white jeans and a tighter black t-shirt. I’m assuming it’s not a business dinner.

Roasted rack and saddle of lamb, spring vegetables.

2130 hrs
Just met the chef, Jocelyn Herland (a guy). The kitchen is shiny and beautiful, and you cannot see it from the dining room. But he told me, with a nice French accent, that it’s important to emulate the environment in the dining room for his cooking staff.

2148 hrs
I asked for a small break before the cheese course. I’ll pass on a detailed analysis as I’m not a connoisseur nor huge fan of cheese courses. Even though I lived in Europe during college, I never got into the cheese course thing. That part of me (the chocolate cake, ice cream thing) is pure American [I will say there were 4 cheeses, each with its own condiment in an adjacent dish - Tuscan goat (from Ducasse’s Tuscan hotel/restaurant (call me for details and reservations), camembert, (unknown), and blue cheese with a tasty pear condiment. Also, beside light crackers, the bread course served was a slightly sweet hazelnut. About the same size as biscotti.

2215 hrs
Should I have a chocolate praline or Ducasse’s signature Baba. I think my new Sardegnan friend is bringing me both. Vediamo. Nope, he brought me a pre-dessert. Hope I’m not getting him in trouble by posting this. (oh god, he brought me both too!). And there’s an ice cream which tastes like a combination of vanilla and chili pepper. I had a choice of 4 rums to pour over the baba and I chose a Dominican one, inspired by Cuban invention. The bottle and mystique won me over. The gold leaf on the chocolate ganache has melted. It was the tiniest, and coolest, little flake. When you bite into the little cake you feel the layers and hear them crunch in the mousse. And there is nocciola (hazelnut) in there somewhere. I can sense it.

Praline-chocolate biscuit, milk/salt flower ice cream
Baba like in Monte-Carlo

2303 hrs
Finishing my coffee. Good night.

Visit http://www.joshfriedmantravel.com/  for my complete set of photos from this trip and other posts.

Leaving for Europe from San Francisco Airport’s International Terminal is easy, smooth and comforting.  I was able to experience the best of Virgin’s Upper Class service on this nonstop journey and came away feeling that some airlines still know how to give their clients/customers the very best of treatment.   Check In was smooth and easy.  Just be aware that carry-on luggage in Upper Class is limited to 10 kilos (22 lbs) weight.   One bag and one personal carry-on like a purse, laptop case or similar is allowed.  Checked luggage for Upper Class appears quickly on the other side of the Atlantic at the end of your journey.

Onboard meals and beverage service was of very good quality; the entertainment options are so numerous that you could in theory be occupied for the whole 10 hour flight and need to take 5 more journeys to see all the offerings.  Comfy “sleep suits” in various sizes are provided to make your flat bed, duvet-covered and mattress- padded horizontal overnight completely comfortable.  Angled single seats face forward and inward on the side aisles downstairs and on the upper deck.  Downstairs on the main deck there are a number of side-by-side seats with a drop-wall for couples or friends traveling together in the center section.  Unusually, the seat flips over and is converted instantly into the flat bed.  The bed side of the seat has its own seatbelt for placing around you as you sleep.

Maybourne Hotels London:

All three of the Maybourne Hotels are known by their reputations and long history.  The Connaught - Claridges - The Berkeley.  Each hotel occupies a unique niche within this family of hotels. 

Claridges was the “adjunct” hotel to Buckingham Palace as the place VIPs, diplomats, and guests of the Queen were discretely and elegantly housed if they were not staying at the Palace itself.   She is renewed and refreshed, maintaining her long history.  The restaurants, bars and dining facilities are updated but still maintain their traditionally elegant energies.  Staff wear morning suits or dark outfits to discretely serve the top flight guests who stay here.  We were able to visit a number of suites and rooms redone by Lord Linley using his design talents with furniture using fine woods to create classic decor done to a new standard.   And as the new standard in England is “nonsmoking”, the former “Humidor” has recently been transformed into an intimate cocktail bar where a select number of guests can fill its private spaces while enjoying the very top quality liquors or liquers as they wish. 

We had a very special treat at Claridges.   Below the ground floor, in the Claridge kitchens, we were greeted by The Chef who asked his younger colleague to guide us in the art of creating appetizers.   With hilarity and good humor, the chefs guided us amateurs in creating a selection of sushi rolls, pipetted horseradish-cream smoked salmon cones as well as getting to taste fois-gras nibbles and other specialities.  A complexity of kitchen work-stations work together to produce just about everything from scratch for the discerning palates of those enjoying the fine cuisine at the hotel..

The Connaught is completing its major rennovations with the addition of new suites in a co-joined building to the original Grande Dame hotel.  Skirting the façade on the south and east sides of the hotel is the marvelous ‘conservatory restaurant’, Espelette, serving many of chef Hélène Darroze’s lighter menus.  The redone lobby “lounge” is done in subtle colors and welcomes both hotel guests and visitors from Mayfair to stop for tea in the afternoon or drinks pre-theatre or pre-dinner.  Relaxed and inviting, it is the perfect place after a day spent in London.  Soon to open its doors more widely to the neighborhood is the very trendy, happening Connaught Bar, done in cool blues and aluminum highlights and featuring new cocktails and inventive nibbles.  If a more quiet yet intimate drinking area is desired, the Coburg Bar and its dynamic staff will ensure a place for excellent conversation and laughter.  A new grand apartment is in the making.  Today you can enjoy the marvelously distinct “Prince’s Suite” where all the wood carvings and décor are hand-crafted as part of support for the wood-carving artists in Afghanistan.  This unique room is a special treat for the most discriminating guest.

The Berkeley just off Belgravia and Knightsbridge across from Hyde Park is an elegant retreat.  She is the newest of the buildings in the group but is home to Boxwood Café, entered from the street on the side of the hotel, Marcus Wareing’s amazing 2* Michelin restaurant, the bustling and very happening Blue Bar for late night drinking and discussions, and the charming Caramel Room where lunch, afternoon tea and breakfast are served with style and panache.   As London attracts people from all over the world, the staff at the Berkeley reflects this multi-national flavor, ensuring all guests will have someone who specially is attuned to their wishes.   The Spa and the rooftop pool are particularly appreciated here.  You can splash about overlooking Hyde Park and retreat into the Spa for a wide variety of treatments.   And the bathrooms are universally spacious with excellent Asprey Purple Rain amenities.   Showers with either rainheads, massage or full spray facilities, deep tubs for soaking and marble marble everywhere.   Service is attentive throughout the hotel and decor in the rooms is subtle and generally done in muted tones.  Several large suites have balconies and one of the top suites has a large ’solarium’ leading out to an expansive balcony which overlooks the Belgravia neighborhood.

All in all, the trip to London gave me an opportunity to once again re-connect with some old hotel friends and learn for the first time the pleasures of Virgin Atlantic.  You should “check out” the Upper Class lounge in London …. you almost don’t want to come home because it is such a great place to hang out!!!