DEPARTURES TRAVEL URBAN
DEPARTURES TRAVEL URBAN DISPATCH 28 The Latest from London Even amid lockdowns and quarantines the British capital is forging ahead with paradigm-shifting openings. by Brian Noone CLASSIC & CONTEMPORARY THE NON-STOP ART FAIR Isabella Icoz of Lehmann Maupin speaks about Cromwell Place, Europe’s first members’ club for art galleries. Opened in early October across a suite of five connected townhouses in South Kensington, London’s latest art destination is open to the public and has a host of rooms that can be rented for two to six weeks by its member galleries. Its lone permanent tenant is Lehmann Maupin, which also has galleries in New York, Seoul and Hong Kong. Senior director Isabella Icoz spoke to Departures. Why London and why now? Opening a space in London has been on our radar – led by gallery co-founders Rachel Lehmann and Homewares Havens David Maupin – for quite a few years now. It’s the centre of the European art world and Cromwell Place offered us a way to steer away One new and one new-look design emporia are just down the street from each other. Chelsea has long been Londoners’ destination of choice when rethinking their home decor, but this year Knightsbridge is making a move. Harrods (harrods. com) has fully revamped its third-floor interiors department, burnishing its superlative offerings and personal consultation service with a handful of new brands and immersive new layout. Meanwhile, a few steps down Brompton Road, Smallbone (pictured; smallbone.co.uk) is set to open a 1,400sq m kitchen superstore, with a host of the heritage brand’s designs – alongside a top-shelf eatery and bar. From left: multigallery Cromwell Place in South Kensington; senior director Isabella Icoz at Lehmann Maupin from the traditional white cube gallery and instead find a space that is everevolving and flexible. Flexible in which ways? We listened to our artists and our clients and we wanted a space that would lend itself to site-specific activations and studio immersions as well as salon-style talks, book launches and so on – our footprint here can double overnight if we need it. The advantages of South Ken? It’s where a lot of our clients and visitors spend time. We love the intimate setting, in these gorgeous townhouses, and the area, like Cromwell Place itself, combines historical and contemporary approaches and makes for a much more interesting dialogue for everyone. cromwellplace.com, lehmannmaupin.com HERE COMES THE NEIGHBOURHOOD CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ALEX DELFANNE, COURTESY LEHMANN MAUPIN, © SMALLBONE
The elegant sitting room in the 57sq m Magistrates’ Suite at the new NoMad hotel CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SIMON UPTON, JAMES MCDONALD, © THOM SWEENEY HOMES FROM HOME Fresh and forthcoming hotels of all sizes prove the city’s resilience. “It’s a once-in-a-generation year,” said a London hotel GM who requests anonymity. “There is an incredible amount of uncertainty with Brexit and now Covid.” This is obviously true, with occupancy rates dramatically lower than the previous autumn, yet new opportunities to overnight nevertheless abound across the metropolis – projects that have been years in the making and offer a sort of soothing, forward-looking optimism. There are three headliners: NoMad (thenomadhotel.com), the first European property from the whitehot American brand, which will make its debut in Covent Garden with 91 rooms and a pair of standout eateries; the city’s second Nobu (nobuhotels.com) with a ballroom, a massive wellness centre and a setting on Portman Square in cuff link-chic Marylebone, far from its hipsterinfused Shoreditch forerunner; and finally the 172-key Mayfair Townhouse (themayfairtownhouse.com), which brings its namesake district a whimsical bolthole where old-school fops can live delightfully large. Down the road in Knightsbridge, The Carlton Tower Jumeirah (jumeirah. com), an icon approaching its 60th anniversary, is emerging from a dramatic, year-long facelift with fewer, more spacious rooms and a new spa and restaurant. For those who prefer rural sophistication, Birch (birchcommunity.com) recently opened, just 30 minutes due north of Zone 1 but a world away with its 22 hectares of grounds and anything- BEDDING DOWN goes ethos that encourages guests to roll up sleeves for gardening and breadmaking, self-isolate for creative rejuvenation or indulge in chef Robin Gill’s locavore menus. Looking ahead, a pair of Asian-owned brands will soon bookend the city with momentous openings: to the east, a stone’s throw from Liverpool Street Station, Pan Pacific (panpacific.com) is a handsome 43-storey tower that brings understated style and a fullfloor wellness area amid a flurry of new City skyscrapers, while out west, overlooking the Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace’s gardens, The Peninsula London (peninsula.com) will be a long-awaited beacon of elegance, having broken ground at the prestige site back in the halcyon days of 2017. Sweeney’s Chic The new Thom Sweeney flagship townhouse in Mayfair, which opened in September. thomsweeney.com ESSENTIAL ADDRESSES The Foodie Five Highlights from the surprisingly buoyant culinary scene. LOUIE A dollop of Creole charm by way of New Orleans, this eatery features an all-star team behind the scenes. pictured; louie-london.com KOL Beguiling Mexican-British fine dining in Marylebone from chef Santiago Lastra of Noma in Mexico City. kolrestaurant.com SOLLIP Korean fusion by chefs with significant pedigree, it’s been switching between grocery and eatery since opening in March. sollip.co.uk MAISON FRANÇOIS French tradition finds a cosy home in this St James’s destination with attached bar à vins, Frank’s. maisonfrancois.london AKOKO Fitzrovia’s latest spotlights West African dishes with extraordinary culinary finesse. akoko.co.uk 29 DEPARTURES PLEASE CHECK THE LATEST GOVERNMENT ADVICE BEFORE BOOKING TRAVEL OR DEPARTING ON ANY TRIP
