London: the coolest city
Dec 10 2010 By Grant Templeton
Grant Templeton heads off for a luxury weekend of fine dining and festive shopping.
There’s no better way to shake off the winter blues and experience Christmas in London.
Visitlondon.com had the inside track on the best seasonal sights in the capital, so with images of mulled wine, mince pies, Champagne and shopping in our minds, it was down to the capital during the Big Chill for a weekend break.
The tills were ringing, the carollers singing and Santa’s sleigh could have pretty much pulled up anywhere, particularly in frosty Hyde Park just across the road from the London Lancaster, our base for the weekend.
The hotel is right on top of Lancaster Gate tube station and offers panoranic views of Hyde Park from its 18 stories. With 416 bedrooms it has enough accomodation to comfortably entertain guests to weddings and conferences, for which the hotel is renowned.
Our deluxe room was comfortable and functional, with a great view over the city. As it was a weekend, most of the guests were tourists but during the week the hotel’s prime central location makes it a popular venue for businessmen.
Coated in frost, Hyde Park had also been turned into a winter wonderland with rides, stalls and music – but we were here to shop. Although the Lancaster is a 10-minute walk from the top of Oxford Street we took the Central line in the other direction, to Shepherd’s Bush and the Westfield Shopping Centre, one of the largest in the country.
It’s packed to the rafters with three floors of high street retailers, boutiques, restaurants and cinemas and, come Christmas, a popular indoor ice rink. Venture further in and, tucked away in one exclusive arm, Jimmy Choo rubs shoulders with Gucci, Prada tries to out-chic Versace, and if you want a little something to complete your designer outfit then De Beers and Tiffany & Co will happily oblige.
If you need a break after breaking the bank a conveniently situated Champagne bar offers light refreshment while you contemplate your next purchase. Suitably refreshed but with aching feet our thoughts turned to dinner. Heading back into the heart of London, Ristoranti Semplice is a Michelin star restaurant tucked just off Oxford Street.
Informal and unhurried, but with impeccably trained front-of-house staff who were unobtrusively attentive, here dinner could be enjoyed at a relaxed pace, and the food was glorious.
Starters of sliced fillet of veal with an outstanding tuna sauce and potato gnocchi with duck ragout, savoy cabbage and taleggio fondue were followed by stupendous main dishes of venison, sprouts and a blueberry, red wine and fois gras sauce and pheasant ravioli with broccoli, potato and thyme sauce, all perfectly prepared with delightful flavours that lingered pleasantly long after the final mouthful.
Ristoranti Semplice has an extensive wine list, with every region of Italy well represented, and it also offers a good value lunch menu.
Morning dawned and we headed off to the rebuilt Globe theatre on the south bank of the Thames. Built with donations, it’s as close to historical accuracy as the few documents surviving from Shakespeare’s time would indicate. The staff will tell you that while Stratford-Upon-Avon made him the man he was, London was the stage to showcase his creative genius. Make of that what you will.
