LONDRA 2023
I never get tired of London.
Despite my last visit just a few months ago (giugno 2022), I really wanted to come back again this year.
To make visits and experiences that I wanted, but also to breathe the mood of the coronation of King Charles III.
So Max and I set off for the English capital the week before Coronation Day (6 maggio 2023), to spend an intense weekend between exhibitions, musei, musicals and of course lots of tastings!
If you plan to go to London in the 2023, here are some suggestions I personally tested.
EXHIBITIONS
Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians – The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace (until Sunday 8 ottobre 2023)
An exhibition on fashion in 18th century Britain, to find out what Georgians wore, from the practical clothes of the workers to the glittering dresses worn at court.
You can admire paintings, prints and drawings by artists including Gainsborough, Zoffany e Hogarth, in addition to fabrics, jewelry and accessories such as snuffboxes and swords.
The most important piece is definitely Princess Charlotte's wedding dress, daughter of George IV and Caroline of Brunswick, and grandson of George III.
The dress was worn by Princess Charlotte on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld on 2 maggio 1816. It is the only surviving royal wedding dress from the Georgian period.
The dress is in silver (silver thread on mesh, over a petticoat of silver fabric, embroidered at the bottom with shells and flowers in silver thread), a consolidated custom within the European royal families of the time.
The practice of wearing a white wedding dress didn't take hold until the late 19th century.
MUSICAL
Il musical The Lion King inspired by the Disney film is now a classic: has been staged in London since 1999, al Lyceum Theatre.
The show is outstanding: in addition to the well-known and award-winning soundtrack, the staging is no less. Scenography, ballets, luci, live music… all really fantastic.
The costumes and make-up are so realistic that you forget that there are human actors on stage. It really feels like seeing animals talk.
Highly recommended for all ages, dai 3 anni (younger children are not allowed) endlessly!
The public is absolutely transversal, both in terms of age and nationality.
Color note: it is allowed to bring glass glasses and bottles from the bar into the dining room (the champagne flows freely!). He is thirsty in the pay, be careful where you step when you go out.
MUSEUMS
The National Gallery it is a museum with a very rich collection, and also free. Absolutely unmissable.
Among the most famous works, Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks, paintings by Raphael and Michelangelo, two paintings by Caravaggio (Supper at Emmaus and Salome with the head of John the Baptist, plus a third not on display, Boy bitten by a lizard), one of five versions of Van Gogh's Sunflowers.
Inside the National Gallery also houses Ochre, contemporary restaurant with not excessively formal elegance, mentioned in the Michelin guide.
We chose to visit the museum on a Sunday morning, to be able to stay for lunch and consume the typical dish of the English tradition: the Sunday Roast, both omnivorous and vegetarian.
In the chicken variant, Chicken with porcini mushrooms and lemon butter with roast bread pudding (roasted bread pudding) e salsa gravy.
Chicken cooked just right, with the meat attached to the bone (free range animal sign), well tanned skin.
On the veg side, Puff pastry pie with truffle celeriac, Baron bigod cheese, celeriac and apple salad. A mix of whispered but very interesting flavors.
All accompanied by vegetables to share: roast potatoes, carrots and kale.
Our judgment is extremely positive, per atmosphere, service, execution of dishes.
Anche in questo caso, guests of all ages and from all backgrounds.
BREAKFAST
A three-story structure that of HIDE (stella Michelin): the ground floor, the upper floor Above at HIDE and the lower floor The Bar Below.
Breakfast is done on the ground floor.
We ordered signature items from the breakfast menu: Croissant, French toast with blueberry compote and crème crue and baked pineapple wrapped in croissant and soaked in spiced butterscotch.
Here you fly really high.
The preparations are absolutely flawless; definitely the best french toast we've ever tasted. Crunchy and fragrant croissant. The jams of the house (in accompaniment to the croissant), with a delicate and not excessively sweet taste.
Even the tea arrived infused to the right point, and already deprived of leaves or sachet: a not irrelevant detail, as there is often a tendency in the UK to let it "dump" in the teapot indefinitely.
The specialty coffee is excellent.
AFTERNOON TEA
Being in London at coronation time, we wanted to have a themed experience.
Therefore, among the various Coronation Afternoon Teas available in the city, we have chosen based on a place that fits easily into our travel plans and based on an average price range (45 pounds each).
By crossing these two variables, it jumped out Biscuiteers, shop famous for its hand-decorated frosted biscuits.
At the Belgravia headquarters (another is in Notting Hill) it is possible to see the decorators at work in the workshop through the glass door, both decorate cookies yourself, by acquiring the appropriate experience.
We come to Afternoon Tea.
In the online booking we had specified that we would take a regular and a vegetarian menu.
On the lower level of the backsplash, the first surprise: on the regular menu there were four finger sandwiches, all different, in the vegetarian one two equal pairs. A bit’ fancy would not have hurt.
On the second floor, scones with jam and clotted cream.
Scones so and so, tasteless cream and surprise number two: plum jam (unwelcome to us) instead of the more classic strawberry one (the lamponi).
Third and top floor, the sweets. Very sweet. Too sweet. Cloying. And the writer is a sweet tooth, one who notoriously prefers sweet to savoury.
Finally we come to the positive notes.
The cookie decorated in the shape of a crown was truly beautiful.
The service used for the mise en place (a blue and white striped Cornishware), equally beautiful.
The waitresses kept asking us if we would like more tea.
We would go back to Biscuiteers? Most likely not.
We trusted a well-known biscuit shop, but we found that it is not to our liking.
In Conclusion, this is not meant to be one “I advise against”, it is only the honest account of an experience.
In the same price range, for the Afternoon Tea we feel instead of recommending Brigit's Bakery a Covent Garden, where we were last year.
CENA
To reconcile our dual omnivorous more vegetarian attitude we chose one of the restaurants in Ottolenghi, ROVI.
The Israeli-born chef is known for his way of treating vegetables, for his use of spices and fermented foods.
The meal is based on sharing; in fact, on the menu there are numerous appetizers and small dishes, so you can make multiple tastes.
We ordered two small vegetable dishes: Cauliflower, burnt cumin butter, hazelnut cream, aglio orsino, pickled golden raisins and Shawarma (focaccia roll) of celeriac, bkeila (Spinach-based dressing), fermented tomato.
One better than the other! The papillae are subjected to unprecedented stresses, almost an awakening of slumbering senses. The juxtapositions are crazy.
A seguire, two main dishes: Gnudi, cabbage with chamomile and lemon, sorrel and Baharat Mushroom Mixed Grill with onions (mix of spices), pickles, pita, blessed.
In all honesty the gnudi dish didn't blow my mind, I found it more ordinary than the previous ones, although still good, ben inteso. In the case of the grill, the flavor of the mushrooms was obscured by the other ingredients.
Therefore we feel like suggesting to abound with saucers, and maybe just take those.
Some annotations: the venue – great (90 places) and crowded – it's really very noisy.
Inoltre, among the products on sale on the shelves – useful for reproducing the famous recipes taken from Ottolenghi's books – some were out of date (I noticed it while I was looking for one of my food souvenirs).
But overall it is an experience that we would definitely repeat.
The Cheese Bar – Seven Dials
Seven Dials Market, 35 Earlham Street
www.thecheesebar.com/seven-dials/
HIDE
85 Piccadilly
https://hide.co.uk/
ROVI
59 Wells Street
https://ottolenghi.co.uk/restaurants/rovi
Ochre
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square
www.ochre.london/