Planning Your Trip
The Queen has officially opened Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, (www.heathrowairport.com) calling it "a 21st century gateway to Britain." The spacious $8.5 billion terminal is a light-flooded, gleaming modern facility with the latest technology, including a first-class lounge with a cinema and a five-story high wall of windows offering a view of Windsor Castle. The terminal has 112 stores and restaurants and took 7 years to construct. It will certainly be heavily used for the 2012 London Olympics.
There are no fast food restaurants, but the terminal does offer a Tiffany's and a Prada. England's most famous chef, Gordon Ramsay, has opened Plane Restaurant (www.gordonramsay.com/planefood/) in the terminal, which is his first airport restaurant. He offers some of his "classics," including braised pork cheeks with honey and cloves. For breakfast there is brioche French toast with treacle-cured bacon. Travelers can also opt for special picnics to go. The deluxe Elemis Travel Spa (www.elemis.co.uk) offers four signature treatments, including scalp, hand, foot massage, and facial.
Where to Stay
The Connaught, Carlos Place, W1. (tel. 800/63-SAVOY or 020/7499-7070; www.the-connaught.co.uk), had become the "blue rinse grand dame of Mayfair." Not any more. The Maybourne group, who purchased the hotel in 2004, has just completed a massive overhaul. As you enter, there's a bar by Paris-based designer India Mahdavi, plus an all-day dining restaurant. British designer Guy Oliver restored 88 rooms and suites upstairs. By the end of 2009, an elegant spa, indoor room, and another 33 rooms will have made their debut. The hotel, with 55% American patronage, remains one of the most expensive in Europe, or the world for that matter.
Where to Dine
In the gilded environs of Mayfair, Chef Anthony Demetre has opened Wild Honey, 12 St. George St. (tel. 020/7758-9160; www.wildhoneyrestaurant.co.uk), in the oak-paneled former digs of a gentlemen's club. Those gents never ate food like that served here; the 3-course set lunch at $30 is one of the best value meals of its type in London. The menu specializes in game, but other dishes are equally fine, including English snails scattered over a thick pancake. Another specialty is a buttery Scottish Buccleuch beef dish. Finish with the namesake "Wild Honey" ice cream with actual honeycomb. Le Café Anglais, Whiteleys, 8 Porchester Gardens (tel. 020/7221-1415; www.lecafeanglais.co.uk), is part of the new wave of dining in London, even though it offers a classic French bourgeois cuisine. It is located in West London, near Notting Hill, on the second floor of the mammoth Whiteleys Shopping Mall. In a former incarnation, the space housed a McDonald's. You wouldn't guess that, especially not when you have a drink at the sexy bar. Two giant rotisseries rotate everything "that flies and is legal to shoot in Britain," claims the chef. These huge joints of tender, succulent meat are among the best such offerings in London.
A 26-year-old chef, Marcus Eaves, showcases his modern European continental dishes at L'Autre Pied, 5-7 Blandford St. (tel. 020/7486-9696; www.lautrepied.co.uk). The décor is retro, but not the cuisine. Eaves' menu is tantalizing. One of the best examples of a main course is a delectable red mullet with flap mushrooms and Jerusalem artichokes. The apple crumble is the best we've ever had.
A thoroughly British restaurant, Hereford Road, 3 Hereford Rd. (tel. 020/7727-1144; www.herefordroad.org), has opened in West London with minimalist décor. The cuisine is market fresh but simply prepared -- nothing fancy, everything unpretentious. Many of the dishes seem old fashioned, including the calf's liver, sage, and onions, but each platter is given a slightly modern twist. Understatement is the key to the cuisine here.
An extraordinary new restaurant, Texture, 34 Portman St. (tel. 020/7224-0028; www.texture-restaurant.co.uk), treats us to the sensuous flavors of the talented chef, Agnar Sverrisson, who worked for the celebrated Raymond Blanc at La Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons, outside Oxford. He is assisted by French-born Xavier Rousset, acclaimed as UK's "Sommelier of the Year." Their 60-seat restaurant and 30-seat Champagne Bar are the toast of London foodies. Try their Icelandic lamb or their "black leg" chicken. Finish your meal with a blood orange, an artistic composition of slices with granite and a muscat sabayon.
Attractions
The Queen herself showed up in Whitehall to open the Household Cavalry Museum, Horseguards Parade (tel. 020/7414-2392; www.householdcavalry.co.uk), which has been installed in the Whitehall stables. You can not only explore the regimental collections of arms and militaria, but also watch the daily activities of the cavalry and get a flavor of the life and work of the Queen's mounted bodyguards. The stables are still in daily use.
The long closed London Transport Museum, Covent Garden Plaza (tel. 020/7379-6344; www.ltmuseum.co.uk), will reopen in November of 2008. It has been shut down for a restoration that cost 21 million pounds Sterling. Set in the refurbished Victorian flower market of Covent Garden, the museum has 25% more display space. For the first time, Harry Beck's original 1930s artwork for the world-famous Underground map will go on display. Among the many vehicles on display is the only surviving steam engine from the world's first Underground railway.
Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1 (tel. 020/7887-8008; www.tate.org.uk), has begun displaying "one of the most important gifts in its history," according to director Nicholas Serota. He is referring to a $200 million gift by supermarket magnate Simon Sainsbury, who died in 2006. The collection includes works by Gauguin, Degas, Monet, Henry Rousseau, Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, and Gainsborough.
The last of the great clipper ships, the Cutty Sark, King William Walk, Greenwich, SE10 (www.cuttysark.org.uk), was named after the witch in Robert Burns's poem, Tam O'Shanter. It was the greatest of the clipper ships that carried tea from China and wool from Australia. Launched in Scotland in 1869, the sleek, black, three-masted ship represented the final fighting run of canvas vs. steam. For months it has been closed to the public, but is expected to reopen late in 2008 following a $25 million renovation.
Context, a network of scholars who lead critically acclaimed walking tours in several European cities, is expanding to London. The organization will offer walks through the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum led by curators. Excursions will go to such places as Inigo Jones' Queens House on the River Thames and Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath. One walk , called "Portrait of the City," will include visits to archaeological sites in London. For the latest developments, with information about how to hook up with these tours, check www.contexttravel.com/london/.
The world-famous Saatchi Gallery is slated to reopen sometime late in 2008 (check the website at www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk for the latest information and a phone contact). The location is at Duke of York Square, SW3, in the former Royal Military Asylum building from 1801. In addition to the stunning avant-garde art compiled by British mega-collector Charles Saatchi, the museum will also offer a bookshop, café, and massive exhibition halls, with guided tours only on Monday at noon and 3pm. The gallery will open with an exhibition entitled "The Revolution Continues: New Chinese Art."
One new way to see London is aboard a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) with a qualified skipper, on an hour-long action-packed trip up the Thames offered by London RIB Voyages (tel. 020/7928-2350; www.londonribvoyages.com). Price is £26 for adults or £16 for children.
London After Dark
At the South Bank Center on the banks of the Thames, the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, SE1 (tel. 08703/800400; www.southbankcentre.co.uk), has been restored at a cost of $220 million. An array of new bars and restaurants now await culture vultures in this vast monument. Head to the Skylon Bar and Grill (www.skylonrestaurant.co.uk), a new restaurant on Level 3, serving a modern continental cuisine with panoramic views of the London skyline. Less formal dining is available at the Riverside Terrace Café (www.riversideterracecafe.co.uk) on Level 2, where guests dine outdoors in fair weather, watching boat traffic on the Thames.
Every new lounge opening in London seems to have its own spin on traditional cocktails. A chic rendezvous at cocktail hour is Artesian at the Langham, 1C Portland Place (tel. 020/7636-1000; www.artesian-bar.co.uk), with drink beginning at £18. Yes, alcoholic drinks in London are soaring in price. At the Artesian, attracting chic young things, the specialty is hot buttered rum. The dark rum is blended with apple cider, spices, and a clove-infused apricot brandy, among other ingredients. The lilac-hued salon boasts more than 50 types of rum, a drink you associate more with the Caribbean than London.
The once dingy borough of Hackney on the northeast fringe of London is being reborn. Evidence of this can be seen throughout the district, including at Passing Clouds Works, 440 Kingsland Rd. (tel. 020/7168-7146; www.passingclouds.org). This venue shelters a film studio, art workshops, an experimental theater, and music concerts. Call to see what's happening before heading here.