Philip Nicholls Knihy

Finding a great meal in London is easy, but avoiding ruinous prices can be a challenge. Enter Elaine Louie, a New York Times staffer specializing in food, design, and style. Louie uncovers stylish dining spots where Londoners enjoy meals under $25, tracking down recommendations from architects, curators, and designers with discerning tastes. She profiles fifty venues that are exceptional finds at any price, showcasing a variety of ethnic cuisines alongside traditional British and Continental options. Each restaurant boasts appealing decor and memorable food, often featuring lighter, modern dining experiences. Highlights include Baker & Spice, a chic café favored by fashionable young mothers for its quiches and meat pies; a charming café atop Dover Street Market, conveniently located near Bond Street; Crazie Homies in Westbourne Grove, inspired by Mexican street food and known for its smoky margaritas; and Jin Kichi, a cozy Hampstead eatery popular with Japanese expats. These venues are situated in central locations and trendy neighborhoods, with some hidden gems in museums and department stores, making this guide practical for travelers. Alongside the fifty detailed profiles, Louie offers brief descriptions of an additional two dozen noteworthy places to explore.

Profiles of more than fifty establishments that have supplied goods and services to royalty–and the merely discriminating–for more than one hundred years"A gentleman," Winston Churchill once observed, "buys his hats at Locks, his shoes at Lobbs, his shirts at Harvie and Hudson, his suits at Huntsman and his cheese at Paxton and Whitfield."Luckily for the gentlemen–and gentlewomen–among us, all of these shops and dozens more are still in business, providing the traditional British goods and food that they've been supplying Londoners for a century or more. More than thirty venerable stores, along with another twenty or so eateries, are profiled in The Historic Shops and Restaurants of London ."The most beautiful shop in the world . . ." is how Esquire magazine describes John Lobb, Bootmaker's opulent premises in Mayfair. Less grand, but no less quaint, is Paxton and Whitfield, now on Jermyn Street, which dates to 1742 when cheese monger Stephen Cullum sets up his stall in Clare Market. (Now the shop sells the most prized artisanal cheeses in Great Britain.) Have a drink at the long, narrow little Grapes Pub. Built in 1720, on the site of a previous pub, the Grapes was a working class tavern that Charles Dickens knew well. As a child, he was made to stand on a table and sing to the customers. As an adult, he immortalized it as the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters pub in Our Mutual Friend . These are only a few of the many of the establishments described that are holders of the Royal Warrant, dating back to the 15th century and still granted today to recognize excellence and quality.Bespoke shirt-makers, hatters, haberdashers, perfumers, bookstores, chemists, an umbrella maker, and chocolatiers are only a few of the small specialist shops included, most of which are located in the most quaint and beautiful settings in London.Also included are traditional restaurants and bars, ranging from picturesque pubs and "caffes" to fish'n'chips stands and eel-and-pie shops.