48 Hours Is Never Enough at London

When my West Coast cousin told me he would be jetting off to London for Thanksgiving, he agreed that I had trained him well. After all, there is nothing like celebrating a quintessentially American holiday in a foreign land; in my experience at least, it makes it more poignant. And few cities can serve a blend of the exotic and familiar with the kind of singular verve as does London. Should you too be tempted by autumnal visions of the Thames, herewith a few timely suggestions for some on-trend ways to succumb.First, of course, you have to get there. My aforementioned relation, being a Hollywood type, followed my counsel and opted for what one might call the unofficial ambassador of Cool Britannia, Virgin Atlantic. Long before Elon Musk infused certain business ventures with the patina of hipness, Sir Richard Branson was doing the same, bringing his signature breeziness to everything from music to airplanes with mood lighting and cosmopolitan food stylings that prior to the pandemic included a popular “Mile High Tea.” Fall menu items from the airline’s Upper Class cabin include the likes of chicken and wild mushroom pie with Irish mashed potatoes and garden vegetables and a Brexit-friendly cheese plate that features Snowdonia Rock Star cave-aged cheddar, Shropshire blue, Somerset brie with grapes, plum and ginger chutney, and crackers. At the time of writing, entering Britain via Heathrow Airport is easier than leaving it. That is principally because holding an American passport grants you almost immediate passage by dint of biometric gadgetry. On departure, however, the widely reported understaffing issues spell overcrowded halls and long, snaking security lines; in short, an ordeal for which one must gird oneself.But that is all the more reason to make the most of your time on the ground, starting with a new neighborhood to explore. Generating considerable buzz right now is Battersea, on the south bank of the Thames opposite Chelsea. The area used to generate coal-fired electricity, and lots of it, from the Battersea Power Station. But that Art Deco behemoth with its four signature chimneys has now been reborn, at a cost of $9 billion, as a 42-acre urban village replete with restaurants, shops, homes, and more. The “more” includes Lift 109, a high-tech glass elevator fashioned out of the rebuilt northwest chimney that whisks punters 109 meters (358 feet) up for a panoramic view of London. True, London’s Spectator magazine sniffed that “Battersea has lifted off, transformed itself and returned as an airport lounge,” but every Londoner I spoke with during my brief sojourn scolded me for not making time to check out the city’s new commercial hotspot. On the theater front, one of the hottest tickets in the West End is Best of Enemies, which opens this November at the Noël Coward Theatre in St. Martin’s Lane, following an initial 2021 run at the Young Vic. Forty-year-old playwright James Graham drew inspiration from the eponymous documentary about the legendary 1968 televised showdowns between William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal. “Their hatred of each other is pulsing all the way through the story,” Mr. Graham told the Financial Times. London is inseparable from pop culture, and lest the modern day wanderer forget that, consider the latest amusement venue to roll — literally — into town: the cheerfully named Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace. It is a twenty-first century homage to the original Flipper’s at West Hollywood. That iconic spot, a sort of Studio 54 on roller skates, was opened in 1979 by an Englishman, and closed in 1981. This version is a two-story rollerskating disco in the White City neighborhood, which is located just above Shepherd’s Bush. There’s a restaurant called, for better or for worse, Hot Dogs and Caviar.Exploring London in whole or more likely, in part, and on skates or more likely on foot, is bound to work up an appetite and dining in this hungry metropolis is rarely a dull undertaking.One of the hottest tables in town right now is Straker’s, in Notting Hill. Young chef Thomas Straker, whom British GQ christened “TikTok’s king of butter,” is already renowned for his earthy fare with contemporary flair. A single appetizer from the November menu hints at that: wood-roasted oysters with fermented “chili pumpkin fritti” and seaweed butter. Another coveted table is Kol, situated where Marylebone meets Mayfair. This is a beautiful restaurant with a menu of inventive Mexican dishes made from locally-sourced British ingredients. That means savory items like a British wagyu taco with cascabel chili and rosé wine, sweet treats like buñuelos with Tunworth ice cream, sea buckthorn, and ancho chili, and mezcal aplenty.Less newfangled but no less atmospheric is a spot near the Farringdon Tube station called Brutto, which is Italian for ugly, but there you go — British cheekiness. If the all-day bar with $6 Negronis doesn’t tempt you, the hearty Florentine dishes surely will.The Christmas lights are already up along busy Sloane Street and elsewhere and shoppers from around the world, America included, are out in force. As to where to go for the best holiday gift buying, start with Harvey Nichols or Harrods in Knightsbridge, and then — well, you might need another 48 hours for that.

48 Hours Is Never Enough at London

48 Hours Is Never Enough at London

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