Belgravia Resident's Journal September 2015 by Runwild Media Group

BELGRAVIA

A particular take on property

2015

Resident’s Journal

S E P T E M B E R 201 5

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Step inside your local office for a copy of magazine Market leaders in Knightsbridge and Belgravia

The Belgravia Residents’ Journal is published independently by Runwild Media Group with regular editorial contributions from Belgravian residents. We would highly value any feedback you wish to email us with: belgravia@residentsjournal.co.uk; or telephone us on 020 7987 4320.

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Dear Resident

Septemberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s issue contains some big hitters, with Henry Hopwood-Phillips interviewing business bombshell Michelle Mone about a life that seems more dramatic than a soap opera (page 12). The leading pages are dominated by an introduction to the Proms by director Edward Blakeman (page six), swiftly followed by a look at one of the best bootmakers in the world, Stivaleria Cavallin (page ten). Elsewhere, the Belgravia Residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Journal goes round the world, in the culinary sense, as it visits four continents through four restaurants within walking distance (page 14), and Great British Escape focuses on spending any chance of an Indian summer we may have in the hinterland of Suffolk (page 20). Please do not hesitate to get in contact with all your news and updates, by emailing Belgravia@residentsjournal.co.uk. Alternatively, tweet us @thebelgravian. We hope you enjoy the issue.

Managing Editor Francesca Lee

Managing Director Eren Ellwood

Publishing Director Giles Ellwood

Main Editorial Contributor Henry Hopwood-Phillips

Senior Designer Daniel Poole

General Manager Fiona Fenwick

Editor-in-Chief Lesley Ellwood

Production Hugo Wheatley Oscar Viney Jamie Steele Alice Ford

Executive Director Sophie Roberts

Above / Jumeirah Carlton Tower Royal Suite - balcony with view. Turn to page 24 for more information.

Proudly published & printed in the UK by

RUNWILD MEDIA GROUP

Client Relationship Manager Friday Dalrymple

Member of the Professional Publishers Association / ppa.co.uk

The Notebook

Who and what have been moving and shaking in Belgravia recently? We bring you up-to-date

Beyond the call of duty

Case study: Stasha Lewis tries out a new local business, Go2Girl Piled-up mail on your desk? Still haven’t filled out that school form, let alone made dinner reservations – kids going hungry because Ocado was forgotten when you were ordering flowers for Grandma’s Birthday? I guess this was me before Go2Girl. Now each week my desk is cleared and ordered, my diary neatly filled, the numerous forms and the odd parking ticket efficiently dealt with.

Savouring the savoury

Laura Santtini recently stepped into the family business – the Italian restaurant Santini in Belgravia – famed for being Frank Sinatra’s favourite in London. Now she’s released At Home With Umami, a book of home-cooked recipes unlocking super-savoury scrumptiousness.

(go2girlondon.com)

(laurasanttini.com)

The Johnson clan Long appreciated by the cognoscenti, Charlotte Johnson Wahl’s big, bold canvases are for one week, available for a wider audience to enjoy. Not one to be upstaged by her famous children (Boris, Rachel and Leo), visit this exhibition to experience the highs of lust, nature and love, as well as the lows of divorce, death and mental breakdown.

From left: 1991 Charlotte Johnson Wahl; Maudsley 1974 Charlotte Johnson Wahl

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Minding Too Much. 7-12 September, Mall Galleries, SW1 (charlottejohnsonwahl.com)

Let’s go outside

Grosvenor’s outdoor film festival (presented by the Nomad Cinema in association with Chestertons) returns to Belgravia this September, with Belgrave Square playing host to Grease (12 September) and The Theory of Everything (13 September), and Wilton Crescent taking over the mantle a little later with The Sound of Music (29 September) and The Italian Job (30 September). (grosvenorlondon.com)

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For always roaming with a hungry heart... Lord Alfred Tennyson, 1809-1892

The Pantechnicon Rooms is changing its name. From September, your much-loved pub, The Pantechnicon Rooms is being re-named â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Alfred Tennysonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The pub remains part of the Cubitt House collection of public houses & hotels.

10 Motcomb Street London SW1X 8LA 020 7730 6074 thealfredtennyson.co.uk

The Alfred

tennyson

Music to my ears

of Dmitri Gutjahr The Cardinall’s Musick. Courtesy

Henry Hopwood-Phillips pins back his ears and receives a musical education at the first three proms at Cadogan Hall

prom chamber music

Tallis and Cheryl Frances-Hoad The Cardinall’s Musick, directed by Andrew Carwood

How often do midday recitals of Latin motets sell out in this world? Perhaps, then, it’s an indication of Prom pulling power that even a début concert by The Cardinall’s Musick plays to not only a packed house but also a snake of young and old hopefuls outside seeing if anybody has died, fallen ill or gone mad. …Which is what you’d have to be to miss this Tallis extravaganza – especially one in which four Tallis pieces, perhaps surprisingly, receive their Proms début. My two personal favourites are Videte Miraculum which brings a reluctant tear to the eye and Why fum’th in fight? Archbishop Parker’s translation of the second Psalm. I do love Cadogan Hall but I imagine the sound being softer, cushioned, more hallowed in a wood-smelling chapel. Instead, here, there’s a clarity, a precision that has its own virtues but ultimately stops parts weaving and melding into one another with quite the ease, the softness found elsewhere.

prom chamber music

Christian Blackshaw. Courtesy of Herbie Knott

Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s tribute to Tallis comes slap in the middle of the programme. I have mixed feelings, struggling to determine whether Tallis was more subtle than this or whether Frances-Hoad is the big hitter and The Cardinall’s Musick’s rendition was simply a tad dry. Complex chords of wonder, dissonant cadences of horror and perilously fragile glissandos writhe in and out, thrusting the words of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe’s German Treatise on the Great Comet of 1577 off the page and into a very 16th century word like ‘firmament’. Finally, from the emotionally drenched world of Frances-Hoad, we return to Tallis’ Spem in Alium. It’s a piece that famously requires 40 singers, ‘none of whom are surplus to requirements,’ Andrew Carwood reminds us in the interim. He also suggests it may have been composed for Elizabeth I’s fortieth birthday in 1573 and/or in reaction to Italian show-offs who had started to produce works for 40 at the time. This Spem is possibly a more sophisticated interpretation than I’m used to, leaving me impressed rather than overwhelmed.

Nielsen and Mozart

Christian Blackshaw and the Royal Northern Sinfonia Winds I don’t like Nielsen – he is too light. In this wind quintet (Op.43) he famously tried to capture the character of the instruments and place them in conversation, but if this is a dialogue it’s the sort of patter that church tea-ladies might employ: it’s light, flighty and not really saying much. Flecks of the harmony are tossed here and there but it’s all executed in such a sober manner that the effort is wasted. Only the saraband-esque flute really perks things up. Mozart wrote at 28, with typical humility, to his father that he considered the Quintet in E flat major for piano and winds (K452) to be “the best thing I’ve written in my life.” And he’s not far off. Christian Blackshaw, one of the true greats on the piano (who seems to have vanished for a while), lets the piece breathe without childish melodrama; the result is an articulate, mellow demonstration of the big M at his most impressive.

MUSIC

prom chamber music

Edward Blakeman

Webern, Colin Matthews and Beethoven Apollon Musagete Quartet

Anton Webern is usually written off as the chap who founded the 12 tone system. Here, however, the langsamer satz (slow movement) is as conventional as it’s possible to be. Yet this is not a criticism. Written after a blissful hiking trip in the Waldwinkel with his cousin (later his wife) this is what his biographers the Moldenhauers called “pure and exalted love music.” It never descends into slack and slushy romanticism though. Somehow a taut languorousness is achieved. Especially exciting in the inversion of the theme, a violin that lifts each section with climbing chromaticism, and a rhapsodic falling of the theme in triplet figurations that ties itself together again in the oddest, most aggressive but also stirring manner possible. Somehow it captures both the fizzy emotionalism of love as well as its deeper, sturdy columns. I sit beside Colin Matthews’ wife. She’s glancing at my pad as I write. Her husband’s piece (String Quartet No.5) is the sound of erratic perplexion; hesitant, compact and silent in all the right places, it’s also the complete opposite to Webern. Beethoven (String Quartet No.5, Op. 18, No. 3) is all about smashing a gorgeous theme into smithereens, throwing it up in the air and then simultaneously dancing and reassembling it as it falls back to earth – leaving a structure far superior to the original, and invested throughout with a greater brio than it possessed before.

Director of the Proms Edward Blakeman Cadogan Hall. Courte

sy of Mike Quinn

It’s 120 years since the very first Proms season in 1895 and still, the founding spirit and ambition of Sir Henry Wood remain at the core of everything we do. Sir Henry wanted great music to be accessible to all and so, among the new performances this year, we are launching a series of Sunday matinees in the Royal Albert Hall, with programmes that will have a wide appeal for all the family. This year we’re also marking the 150th anniversaries of Nielsen and Sibelius; we celebrate the 90th birthday year of Pierre Boulez and welcome a glittering line-up of pianists for the complete concertos of Beethoven and Prokofiev, as well as six of the wonderful late concertos by Mozart. There are 32 premieres of new works, including first commissions by several young composers – an exciting and ever-renewing aspect of the Proms pioneered by Sir Henry, who delighted in introducing his audiences to contemporary pieces. I feel the Proms should always be about the best of music and the breadth of music, and so within the context of a mainly classical festival it’s exciting to be able to explore a whole range of contemporary sounds. This year, our Late Night Proms will showcase intimate solo Bach recitals alongside adventurous musical collaborations with six of the BBC’s network radio stations.

Apollon Musagete Quartet. Courtesy of Marco Borggreve

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Wheels of

fortune

f you’ve spotted Belgravians looking extra smug behind the wheel of a dramatic DB6 or an elegantly elongated E-Type recently, it’s not just about the joy that driving these old-timers gives; it’s because they know they’re on to a sound investment. Well, with solid statistics showing the steady increase in value of classic cars, the secret is officially out. In fact, according to the latest figures by the Historic Automobile Group International, classic car values have soared by 500 per cent in the last decade. This means that choosing the right coupé or cabriolet could get you a yield of 12 per cent within a year, if you were to simply keep it in the garage and take it for the occasional spin, and you could be looking at double that figure if you restore it to tip-top condition. Of course, the catch is that buyers need to know exactly which models by the most luxurious marques are worth getting their hands on. For example, if you thought a Rolls-Royce Phantom II was a safe bet, then think again. As some pre-war cars are falling in value, it’s predominantly the drivers of certain

Classic cars are racing ahead in the luxury assets sector, with the most sought-after models overtaking gold, fine art and even property as prime investments. Emma Rose Russell holds the key to getting straight into the fast lane when acquiring an antique automobile

British sports cars from the 1950s and 1960s who are feeling a second wind in their hair. What’s more, with revved-up supercar drivers ripping up the streets of Belgravia on their way to Knightsbridge – where they could soon receive an ASBO for making nonsensical noise – and alarming news from further afield that Chrysler’s intelligent car systems are hackable; it does seem that owning a classic car could be the antidote to modern motoring grievances. Indeed, it’s clear from the growing number of vintage beauties popping up at Belgrave Square that the locals have already caught on to this. Incidentally, the leafy spot is also the favourite departure point for wellseasoned enthusiasts who will be embarking on their journey to Goodwood Revival in September, doing at least two warm-up laps of the quadrangle before swanning off towards Sloane Square. For those who are new to the classic-car collecting scene, here are five of the best models that promise a healthy return on investment, not to mention being a fine carrier to get you from A to B.

Owning a classic car could be the antidote to modern motoring grievances

Austin-Healey 3000 Convertible © Vladimir Sazonov / Shutterstock.com

MOTORING

Ferrari 250 GTO © Radoslaw Lecyk / Shutterstock.com

Austin-Healey 3000 Convertible After his days spent plotting the Great Train Robbery when he frequented Belgrave Mews’ infamous Star Tavern in an Aston Martin, career criminal Bruce Reynolds purchased this super-cool sporty number in 1963. His Mk II convertible was equipped with luxurious extras including a Philips radio, a factory hardtop and a Ruddspeed engine conversion, upping the output to a feisty 180hp. In 2004, the car made headlines when it was sold at auction for £24,000. Compared to Reynolds’ soupedup Ford Lotus Cortina – the getaway car that fetched a whopping six figures in 2009 – that may not seem like big bucks. However, with less than 18,000 made, the value of a Condition 1 Big Healey has continued to rise and the model is easily worth more than £40,000 today.

Jaguar E-Type SI Hands down the most popular Jaguar ever made, this grand tourer combined pleasing proportions with a high performance 3.8-litre engine when it was released in 1961. Although around 70,000 were created in total, thanks to loyal E-Type enthusiasts, consistent demand for the Series I has seen their value quadruple in the last four years – meaning a quality mid-1960s example comes in at more than £120,000. The rarer the model, the more secure the investment. So, connoisseurs who have managed to hold on to one of the remaining 12 lightweight aluminium-bodied versions currently have a cool £7million parked in their garage. Earlier this year, the extra six that were intended for production in 1963 were finally completed in Coventry and released with the original chassis numbers at £1.2 million each.

Aston Martin DB6 Volante Move over Bond. Although an unshaken, unstirred version of 007’s DB5 is worth around £1million, more and more collectors are turning their attention to its successor. Released in 1965, the DB6 featured key improvements, chiefly the addition of a Kamm tail rear spoiler to improve stability at high speeds and increased space for passengers.

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The following year saw the arrival of the DB6 Volante convertible and, out of 178, just 38 were prized Vantage versions with an enhanced 325hp engine, worth up to £780,000 today. Prince Charles is one savvy collector who has held onto the Mk II Volante he was given on his 21st birthday. Now running on vintage fuel – bio-ethanol supplied by English wineries – it was the wedding car of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Porsche 911 SC Targa In continuous production since 1963, this German manufacturing feat needs no introduction. But, with so many versions on the roads, it is tricky to distinguish which ones are the most coveted. The last of the aircooled models from the 1990s are very popular, but the 2014 release of the supercharged, retro-styled Targa has reignited appreciation for these originals. Halfway between a convertible and a coupé, the 1967 Targa was designed with a removable roof panel and back window, but retained a fixed overhead bar to get around a never-realised US law which threatened to ban completely open-top vehicles. With a 3.0-litre engine and a fixed rear window, SC models from 1978 to 1983 have seen a 35 per cent rise in value in just six months, hitting an average sale price of £30,000.

Ferrari 250 GTO With only 39 of these glorious Italian racing cars made between 1962 and 1964, the chances of getting hold of one are slim. Still, it makes the list as it currently holds the record for being the most expensive car ever sold, both at auction and privately – fetching £23million at a Bonhams’ sale last year and an astonishing £32million in a private exchange of hands in 2013. Those in the market for something similar should look out for the 250 GT Lusso, of which 350 were manufactured in the same time frame. The road-going equivalent, it shares many features with the all-powerful GTO including the Tipo 168 engine with 240hp. Right-hand drive versions are the most rare and subsequently worth up to £2million a piece.

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PROMOTION Photography: Sarel Jansen

Boots

like sculptures An Italian in Belgravia is bringing legendary Venetian bootmaker Stivaleria Cavallin to Elizabeth Street

t’s all suddenly very white – in fact, the brightness of Stivaleria Cavallin’s showroom on Elizabeth Street hurts the eye like the brilliance of a sail. Giacomo Martignon approaches in similarly radiant trousers and a navy shirt, as if he’s scuppered a yacht somewhere and is caught up searching for food and material among shoe-peddling landlubbers. “I bought the Cavallin brothers’ factory a few years ago,” he starts with a thick Italian lilt. I tell him the word Cavallin sounds like he’s got an automated assembling plant. But I quickly learn about the craftsmen, and that’s actually happening in a cluster of villages on the mainland opposite Venice, as they continue creating what must simply be the best footwear in the world. Giacomo was in the right place and time. “I’d gone to school with the founders’ daughters and felt that the mission the Cavallins had been fulfilling for half a century needed to be continued and celebrated.” I try to nail down what exactly the mission is. Giacomo picks up a boot and, running his finger from toe to knee and around its calf, asks what’s different about it. Firstly, we agree it’s quite rare to get a boot made from one piece of leather. “Cavallin was the first one to do this, and the process and the machines were kept secret for years,” he notes. “In fact, even today only the Cavallin brand has the ability to do it to all types of leather.” It’s very expensive to achieve this because having such a large piece of leather means you use the middle of a big animal and must chuck the rest of it away. It sounds like the sort of process a

sculptor might execute, trying to source the perfect marble. The firm specialises in boots for ladies. It has produced the top range of shoes for many famous fashion brands for decades, but the Stivaleria Cavallin line is a new product altogether. “For the boots carrying our name we want the best in every aspect: leather, lining, style, comfort. We do not compromise over the quality of the product, however difficult, time-consuming or expensive,” Giacomo insists, brows furrowed. With an entry point of £1,000 for knee boots, I can see he’s not kidding. It’s all about capturing the essence of style though. “Shoe fashion is a crowded place; it makes you feel that you might want to add a strap here, a shiny thing there, maybe some studs deserve a place there – but to our designers we ask “Is this really the best ankle boot we have ever designed? Will it be timeless?” he says, the volume rising. Instead of this he suggests Cavallin’s philosophy is closer to Ferrari’s – “You never see an irrelevant addition, do you, just slow accretions that truly improve the essence of the thing.” I’m told that the store is not only the UK’s or Europe’s first Cavallin store but also the first and only worldwide. “People here love things that are genuinely unique; it’s not just a soundbite here.” As well as the bespoke service in-store, clients can choose from a broad selection of premium leathers and colours, made to measure precisely to fit your calf and foot, in just three weeks. As I wrap up the interview, Giacomo seems reluctant to have his photo taken. This seems less to do with any bashfulness and more to do with the fact that he wants the craft to speak for itself – so go and see for yourself. 57 Elizabeth Street, SW1W 9PP, 020 3198 3269 (stivaleriacavallin.com)

Belgraviaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most famous restaurant, brasserie & bar

Open 7 days a week 26 Motcomb Street 020 7235 6382 email: info@motcombs.co.uk w w w.motcombs.co.uk

Meeting

Michelle Henry Hopwood-Phillips talks to one of the country’s top businesswomen, Michelle Mone, about a life that reads like a soap opera...

You’ve just released an autobiography – how honest did you feel you could be in it? I was first asked to do a book six years ago but I put it off. I didn’t feel I had enough experience. When you see these reality stars entering Big Brother at 22 years old and, after their departure, writing a book, I always think what exactly have you got to write about? The book took me a year to complete. By the end of it I felt like writing a book about writing a book. It was a very emotional time. Let’s start at the beginning... I was born and bred on the east streets of Glasgow. Growing up in a tenement, in a one-bedroom flat, was tough. We didn’t even have a bath or a shower. But I always dreamt of being an entrepreneur. That was my focus. What was your first business? I organised paper rounds when I was 10, employing around six teenagers to distribute the news. At 12, I was at the fruit shop being head-hunted by the sweet shop across the road. At 15, I tried to find work but nobody would take me on without a National Insurance number, so I had to do some modelling. I hated it and was really bad at it. So you left? Yes, I got a job as an admin girl. I met my first boyfriend when I was 17 and we had our first child when I was 19.

INTERVIEW

What kept you striving for more? Each day going to work I’d keep a book in my bag with notes on what I wanted to achieve both in business and personally. Even today lots of people complain to me that they’re not successful because of x, y or z, but I always answer that because of ‘you’. Only you can choose to put up with things or change them. How was your bra brand Ultima born? I had 15 guys above me as an admin girl for a beer company. Eighteen months later, I was running the show. But at 24 I was made redundant. At a dinner dance with all my friends, I was really quite depressed. Wearing an uncomfortable cleavage bra I despaired at its horrible wiring and padding. Taking it off, I put it in a bin, returned to the table and said to my friends “I’m going to invent a bra.” They all told me to sit down, insisting I’d had too much to drink. My husband said “you can’t even sew a button on my shirt!” Many people have ideas, how did you get through the rigmarole of starting up? I went to the Chamber of Commerce to try and find factories, which was a real challenge in itself. I then travelled to Portugal where a factory started to make some samples for me. Three-and-a-half years later, £485,000 in debt, I managed to get a patent pending, and thank God we got it because later we had to make certain companies burn their stock of our product – which we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. When it was all done, I got my aunties and friends into my living room and asked Aunty Jo to test the bra. She asked why and I replied “we all call you Uncle John because you’re flat as a pancake, so if I can give you a cleavage I’ll be a millionaire.” And sure enough she did get one. Did anybody take a chance on you? Selfridges. But you have to make your own luck. I took the train down to London, pregnant with my third baby, and turned up at the buyer’s office in Selfridges. I had carrier bags of bras. The secretary asked if I had an appointment. I said no. She asked why I was there. I said I’d made the best cleavage bra in the world. She called the buyer and said they wanted me to send samples with a presentation and that they’d get back to me if interested. At that point I started to cry, pleading with her to try it on. She did and loved it and a contract followed. How did the launch go? After giving birth I had to be back at work within 48 hours because I was up to my eyeballs in debt. Most people have hundreds of thousands of pounds to make big splashes. I

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

had £500. What did I do? I decided to hire a dozen actors and dress them up as plastic surgeons. And I had them shouting outside Selfridges, panicking about “banning the Ultima bra,” telling people “not to go in because it’ll put us out of business.” That quickly got out to news desks in London. Soon we had 68 photographers turning up and about £54m of media coverage, resulting in five months stock being sold in 24 hours.

Now I’ve lost 8.5 stone, I run 7km a day and I’m happy Hard work aside – did you have any lucky breaks? I remember an American lady calling in the middle of the night to tell me Julia Roberts was wearing my bra in a big film (Erin Brockovich), thinking it was my friend Aileen, I said “Stop it with the pranks. Go away. You can stuff your jokes where the sun doesn’t shine.” Then I got a fax coming through saying “sorry, I didn’t understand your Scottish accent.” Were there any lows? A couple ran away with £1.45m cash and ten months of stock after offering to become a distributor. The banks entered the fray saying we had two weeks to pay our overdraft. I put on eight stone in this period. I was getting depressed too and fighting with my husband. I was sleeping in the car – it got that bad. I thought I wouldn’t have a house, a husband or a business. At this point my mother picked me up off the floor and shook me, saying “For goodness sake, there are kids dying, families who can’t feed their families and you’ve just lost some money. You’ll find a way.” I remembered a guy I’d met at a party two months before, former HSBC chief, Sir Keith Whitson – he’d given me his phone number. I called him and he told me he’d send his team down. So, just as a bank was shutting me down at quarter to five on a Friday, I got a call saying “welcome to HSBC.” So everything was fine again? Not really. I’d become suspicious that my husband was having an affair. He told me I was nuts. But in the end I found out and he refused to move out of the family home. It was like the War of Roses for eight months. I was crying myself to sleep each night, drinking heavily and was overweight. Any regrets? I wasted two-and-a-half years of my life being bitter. Now I’ve lost more than eight stone, I run 7km a day and I’m happy. I ended up buying my ex-husband out and getting custody of the kids. New partners in Sri Lanka for Ultima swiftly followed after a speech I delivered with the Prime Minister there. Eventually though, I realised I wanted to sell Ultima and hung up my bra and resigned. I’m now concentrating on new projects – it’s time to start a new chapter. (michellemone.com)

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Wordly offerings Latin American Moo Cantina

here are many words that ‘cheap’ goes with. A word it’s never welcome with is ‘steak’. Nobody ever boasts they’ve got cheap steak. It implies that they’re a nasty little scoundrel who enjoys imposing sinews, gristle, hormones and jaw-ache on those they’re supposed to love.

Highlights

Both the quality of the food and the prices mark Moo Canti out for greatness. The emphasis falls on minimalist street food (we’re talking melted Provolone cheese, empanadas, calamari, chorizo, lomitos and black pudding). The chorizo, while not stopping the show, does halt it and has less salt, paprika and fat than the usual Spanish varieties. The Provolone comes a close second. Put your predictable Camembert and rosemary away, this number, a relation of mozzarella, is more full-bodied and can stand up to the powerful spice-and-pepper Malbec I wash it down with. Everybody has their premier league of steaks. Hernan, my Argentinian companion, has great fun making me rehearse mine: ribeye sits at the top, chateaubriand, sirloin and fillet follow. Four steaks later he’s laughing, as I’m forced to place ‘flank’ at the top. This is the meat that sits above a cow’s intercostals, bright red from all that unfashionable

exercise (it’s very rare to see it not in shredded beef form), here it is served as any other steak. Tender, packed with flavour (that’s not just salt) and, most importantly, selling at a fraction of the price of its competitors, this rocks my world.

Lowlights

When Moo Cantina, an Argentinian steak ‘place’ on the edge of the world (Vauxhall Bridge Road), touts itself as the Nandos of the steak world, you have a right to be dubious. Outside and in, it looks like a rather unprepossessing pub, decked out in Latin American low culture. (moocantina.co.uk)

Europe Les Gourmets de Ternes

long, narrow space full of tables encourages affaires de coeur. Opened by Maximilien Marie, the twentysomething grandson of Francis Marie, who in 1962 launched the original Paris branch, the whole room is soaked in deep burgundy, which is now associated more with bas than haut chains such as Café Rouge.

Highlights

The garlic escargots cannot be faulted. This is the first time I’ve ever had snails. The tool kit they come with may remind me of a Meccano set but the petite hot blobs, shrouded in green and garlicky coats, are a delicious prize.

Lowlights

The rest of the food (sea bass and cheeseboard) is merely reasonable, and while it’s good to see a restaurant stand hard against fads, concepts and the like, important aspects such as presentation are ultimately lacking, there’s no real vegetarian option and the whole operation lacks Gallic charm. (lesgourmetsrestaurants.com)

DRINKING AND DINING

Henry Hopwood-Phillips examines four restaurants from four continents within walking distance of Belgravia

Far East Flat Three

amed after the place that chef Pavel Kanja (ex Wabi, Roka and Nobu) and his business partner Juliana Moustakas (who left the City to set up the restaurant) used to cook at for a supper club, which directly led to the creation of Flat Three, it’s located behind a nondescript entrance and down a flight of stairs. Ever since opening, menus have split the opinion of some of the biggest critics.

Highlights

There’s a dish that contains wood ants ‘foraged’ in Kent that I’m a fan of. And although I’m not a pudding man, the Runeberg cake combines hot cardamom sponge with ice cream and raspberries in a manner that leaves me at the mercy of childhood memories. Finally, although the minimalism of the food may annoy, each dish (especially the oyster sauced short rib) is packed with flavour.

Lowlights

At £65 for a seven-course tasting menu (without wine), this is where Flat Three is placing itself. While not as trendy as John Doe, it’s also not as formal as The Ledbury. (flatthree.london)

India Bombay Brasserie

ince opening in 1982 and focusing on Bombay’s cuisine (a style inflected with Goan, Gujerati and Mughal influences), the Brasserie has gone through several masks. There’s been a complete revamp this year, however, with a gorgeous Raj-inspired, portrait-covered bar clearly forming the centrepiece.

Highlights

First, this is the antidote for those suffering takeaway syndrome. Second, grilled khada masala scallops followed by venison bursting with spicy ginger and coconut notes are quite simply the best Indian dishes I’ve tasted. Third, the service is polite and knowledgeable; especially impressive was the ability to make Indian versions of G&T on demand. Fourth, lunching in the conservatory in the summer is a must.

Lowlights

The place was a little empty, and the fact that prices aren’t shown is old-school de rigueur but new-school annoying. (bombayb.co.uk)

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The

Belgravian Stars, stripes and sophistication

Henry Hopwood-Phillips talks to one of Belgraviaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most urbane locals, the cosmopolitan Briana Handte Lesesne

PROFILE

“H

e thought I was a lady of leisure,” Briana recalls; striking a note of outrage, I can’t quite tell if she’s joking or not. Referring to the time she met the historian Andrew Roberts, it’s no doubt a mistake that several have made in the past. And I would wager it’s not the only mistake blundered into either: her polished looks, polite demeanour and sharp mind would imply an education that in the UK would have people reaching for phrases such as ‘silver spoon.’ On both counts they would be wrong. “My father grew up during the Great Depression,” she explains. Having saved every penny he’d earned, he got himself through medical school and became a very successful doctor. Her mother was an air stewardess for Eastern Airlines. The youngest of four girls (though Briana’s brother was younger) both parents instilled very strong values, morals and a solid work ethic. “Work hard, save, invest and have integrity – these are the values I live by,” Briana insists. Suddenly my own ‘work hard, play hard’ dictum feels a little inadequate – a bit light. So far, so American – it’s a chorus of self-improvement. But Briana is possibly the most cosmopolitan person I’ve ever met. She has lived in the US, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, the UK, and because her brother lives in Japan, she’s spent a lot of time there too. And that’s not touching on the different places where she’s grown up in the US. Few I imagine have trodden the route between Reese Witherspoon’s school in Nashville, Tennessee and a course in Russian at Aiglon College in Switzerland. “I guess I wanted to be a diplomat or at least do something in the Foreign Service,” she says, sipping some sort of vanilla coffee that’s only available in the States. It’s the sort of thing people say in a fit of teenage boredom but rarely follow through. Briana persevered, however, and having majored in History and Russian at Conneticut, she got a flight to Leningrad and spent an exchange semester at the university there. “I thought I’d only spend a year there,” she notes, trying not to notice me ruining the table with the debris of four croissants. “In the end it was more like a decade.” Only Briana could make the whole period sound like she’d just got a bit carried away with the arts and museums. Listing countless big-name ballet companies and cultural landmarks from the Kirov, the Bolshoi, the Tretyakov, the Hermitage, the Kremlin, Catherine the Great’s palace, to visits to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, she also recounts the 1993 attack on the Russian White House, with “tanks rolling down the street in front of me.”

But she wasn’t there as a tourist. Briana had a job with ABC News as a translator and assistant to correspondents and producers. “I did this until they felt I was ready to have my own camera crew, which was Vnukovo airport roughly around the same time I met Boris Yeltsin at airport, two months before the coup.” Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. As much as she loved the media and Russia, this polyglot felt the need to push herself further when she returned to the US, attending Kellogg Business School in marketing, management and strategy. “I used this knowledge when I returned to Moscow by helping Hearst titles to launch the Russian editions of Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. With Russian friends and Russian staff, it was incredibly fun, in the wild east of 1990s Russia but eventually I felt like I’d done Russia and returned to New York to work for Condé Nast.” A husband and two kids soon followed, coupled with a “great social life oscillating between New York and Greenwich.” I ask how London fits into all this. Cap, her husband had been growing the family cosmetic surgery business, Dr. Cap Lesesne, P.C. – constantly flying over here to see clients, he saw London as the perfect base to serve Russian and Middle-Eastern clients. Now he’s the only dual-licenced US-UK plastic surgeon, and he has a base in Belgravia. “We moved at first to Eaton Place and later to a mews house,” Briana glances slightly ruefully out of the window at a very soggy summer. But she’s adamant she loves the weather here. “It’s cool, it’s temperate, there are ominous clouds at all times; the winter colours, its light is so utterly romantic; I get stuff done in this weather.” As well as handling sales and marketing for the family business, Briana attends press and industry events in the beauty sector. She’s also an honorary co-founder of the Belgravia Residents’ Journal, serving as the first editor’s beauty editor for several years, submitting articles that show off years of expertise garnered from her time at Condé Nast. Now truly ensconced in Belgravia, her daughter attends Francis Holland and her son is at Westminster Cathedral Choir School. “I love walking everywhere with them and having what you English call banter,” she giggles. She talks about secretly loving it when her son uses typically English expressions when the family is in the US. It’s always a delight to spot Briana at local summer parties, Christmas concerts and the like – just remember – don’t mistake her for a lady of leisure.

I guess I wanted to be a diplomat

Illustration / Russ Tudor

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

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Residents’ Culture Exploring the minutiae of residents’ concerns and encounters

Dear

Auntie

Issues ranging from etiquette to depression afflict every area of the world, but not all places have a person as sage as our agony aunt to solve them… If you’d like any of your problems answered, email belgravia@residentsjournal.co.uk and we’ll forward your concerns to Auntie.

Dear Auntie,

My best friend has asked me to become the godmother of her child. This is a disaster on all fronts as first, her sister feels put out (to put it lightly) and second, I don’t like children in general and hers are no exception. How do I make an omelette here without cracking any eggs?

I was set upon in Hyde Park by a puppy, which I initially thought was cute but things quickly went from play-fighting to actual fighting, and as it started to bite me I struggled to think of a response that did not involve me pushing it away. Fortunately, it gave up before I did anything, but it has left me thinking – would it have been fine for me to push it away?

Thanks, Charlotte Dear Charlotte, Thank you for taking the time to write in and share this problem with our readers – I have come across a similar situation in the past. The fundamental issues here are a) your friendship and b) how you perceive the role of a Godparent: i.e. in the eyes of the Church and its beliefs? or other; c) does the Godparenting in this instance encompass a “Guardian” issue were anything untoward to happen to the parents? Sadly this is not a straightforward question as a) only you can truthfully answer and b) has to be decided between parents and Godparents as it can cause immense difficulties if one side “believes” and one does not, and (c) involves money and your own “partner” in life. The fact you do not bond immediately with children would not necessarily be an issue depending on your answers to the three questions above.

Yours sincerely, Auntie

All the best, Deborah Dear Deborah,

I am a little at a loss over this question as it is hard to give you an informed answer without knowing fundamental facts. By this I mean (i) what size/ breed was the puppy, (ii) was the puppy on a lead, (iii) where was the owner (iv) did you have a dog of your own and (v) what age was the puppy? If the owner was in situ I am lost as to why it was not pulled away from you. Unless the puppy in question was one of the huge breeds (at which point I doubt I would have started to play without permission of the owner). Puppies can usually be kept under control with a stern voice.

Yours sincerely, Auntie

The views expressed on this page are not held by the Residents’ Journal. The page offers a platform for the voices of our local residents to discuss topics they feel relevant and important.

September roundup

The Pantechnicon Rooms, soon to be ‘The Alfred Tennyson’

by Sue Liberman

Renaming of ‘The Pantechnicon Rooms’ to ‘The Alfred Tennyson’ Cubitt House Limited has operated with Public Houses in Belgravia since The Thomas Cubitt opened its doors on Elizabeth Street ten years ago. Its sister venue, The Pantechnicon Rooms opened on Motcomb Street in April 2008 and quickly established itself as a firm favourite with businesses and residents alike. As I mentioned last month, Pantechnicon (London) Limited (owned by the founders of Cubitt House) has now agreed terms for the complete refurbishment of the Pantechnicon Building at 19 Motcomb Street. Due to launch in early 2017, the newly revived Pantechnicon Building will become a contemporary fashion emporium, with a restaurant, bar and café. In order to honour and respect the name of the iconic Pantechnicon Building and to avoid confusion between the two venues, The Pantechnicon Rooms is to be renamed “The Alfred Tennyson”. Although the name is changing, the offer, interior design and management will all remain unchanged. The launch of the new name is set for September 2015. Born on 6 August, 1809, Alfred Tennyson became one of the country’s most well-loved and respected Victorian poets, a true national treasure. One of his most famous poems was The Charge of the Light Brigade. During his later years, he lived in Upper Belgrave Street, just a few minutes’ walk away. In 1884, he accepted a peerage, becoming Alfred Lord Tennyson. Tennyson died on October 6th, 1892, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Stefan Turnbull, director of Cubitt House said: “The Pantechnicon Rooms has been a destination pub and restaurant for many years and we felt it was important for the venue and for our many loyal customers that it maintains its own strong identity. The launch of The Alfred Tennyson name will sit alongside the much awaited revival of the Pantechnicon Building and we are delighted that this new project gives us an opportunity to honour one of our country’s greatest and best-loved poets.”

Traders news

G & C Hair and Beauty After 41 years G & C Hair and Beauty have decided to leave Motcomb Street. We’re sad to see them leave and will miss its presence. However, they’re still in Belgravia and we wish them every happiness for their future with Neville’s on Pont Street. Belgravia is a friendly village with a wonderful community spirit and as such, residents, traders and businesses like to “have a chat”. Many have been concerned about the current rumour that Errol Douglas is leaving the area. Errol was as surprised as I was (as he’s my hairdresser!) by these rumours and you’ll be delighted to know that he has no intention of leaving Motcomb Street and there is absolutely no truth in the current rumours.

New opening - The Good Life Eatery

Shirin Kouros and Yasmine Lariza deh

A new opening in Belgravia

The Good Life Eatery The Good Life Eatery will open its third London café on Motcomb Street this Autumn. Founded in 2013 by Yasmine Larizadeh and Shirin Kouros through a mutual passion to inject a healthy boost into London’s food scene, The Good Life Eatery strives to encourage customers to embrace a healthier lifestyle through nutritious and freshly-made food. The Good Life Eatery is built on the premise of creating a healthy and happy lifestyle for all its customers, which includes dairy and gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian diets in the form of simple, clean and fresh food sourced from local producers. Yasmine Larizadeh, co-founder of The Good Life Eatery said: “We are very excited to launch The Good Life Eatery on Motcomb Street. As a neighbourhood café we favour fantastically vibrant communities, and Belgravia’s eclectic mix of boutique brands alongside its inspiring elegance makes this the ideal location for our third site. We cannot wait to bring a sense of familiarity with a clean, fresh dose of The Good Life to this beautiful pocket of London, as well as becoming part of the locals’ daily lives.”

Until next month...

If there’s anything you would like me to know about, I can be contacted on 07957 420 911 or on sue@sueliberman.com

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

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Great British Escape

Swanning about

Henry Hopwood-Phillips heads out into Gainsborough country and encounters a stunning cygnet in Lavenham

The AA two-rosette Gallery Restaurant

isneyfication. It’s a pertinent word. Whilst it once formed the centre of a debate in which Parisians discussed how compatible ‘une certaine idée de la France’ was with an all-American theme park in the early ’90s, today, it’s used by Brits feeling queasy about a process that’s usually placed, in moral terms, a mote below pawning the family silver off for a loan. Indeed, the sale of British assets to those who are happy to milk them but not to respect their spiritual integrity is a sensitive topic, and not just today – prostituting the spirit to polish the letter is rarely a theme found in panegyrics.

But the reaction that this hollowing-out has encouraged is equally bad. My village in Dorset, Corfe, has effectively been annexed by the National Trust. The fact that even its name is rarely heard without reference to the Trust’s castle is testament to this. Of course this is to protect the place from capitalist predators, but the result is a sanded-down, mediated experience; a castrated pastiche. In other words, it’s just as much of a barrier to a raw and spontaneous encounter with the past and present of Britain’s identity as the shell left by capitalist flunkies. Enter The Swan in Lavenham, Suffolk. Having read

TRAVEL

Constable Suite

the hotel’s spiel about being a 15th-century guild and subsequently an inn (with stables for up to 50 horses), I’m automatically dubious. It must either be secretly owned by the Sultan of Brunei or about as authentic as a squabble [insert correct collective noun] of lawyers living in a Cotswolds commune. However, I wander the town’s streets for signs of artificially distressed beams of an upmarket chain in vain. Instead, bells peal for Sunday communion, all the stores, apart from heretical antiques shops, closed for the Sabbath. Inside the hotel, I scour the place for signs of contrived antiquity in a painting or big money behind a refurb – again, fruitlessly. In the end I back off and let The Swan speak for itself. This place is real, and it’s good. At the Airmaén’s Bar there are the record times that American and British pilots managed to down a huge boot of ale, and local liquid gold from Bury St Edmunds flows on tap; my room (down a higgledy-piggledy maze of corridors) has a fireplace you could fit a small bathroom in; the rooftops are nursery-rhyme wonky; the windows cased in lead; the floor is brick and carpet; and the doors built to withstand sieges.

It treads a middle road between minimalism and rustic chic

Weavers’ House Spa Manicure Emporium

Outside Vitality Pool at the Weavers’ House Spa

A Heritage Room

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

The only part of it that looks like it’s not built to endure the End Days, is the Weaver’s House Spa. Finished six months ago, it treads a middle road between minimalism and rustic chic. With six treatment rooms, Temple Spa products, a vitality pool, a sauna and a steam room – it’s got everything other than a full-sized pool. An issue I’m happy to overlook after a massage, a lemon sorbet and a pot of camomile. Dinner is held in the Gallery, the hotel’s double-AA rosette offering (the Brasserie is its informal counterpart), so-called because the space has been reconstructed as a medieval galleried hall. As the hotel hadn’t splashed the head chef, Justin Kett’s, name around I’d perversely expected it to be a rather tame affair. Instead, a beetroot salad with Stilton, candied walnuts and berries has me writing down the ingredients to make at home. And the venison that follows, while a tad safe, is undoubtedly entering Michelinstar territory. Which is also true of François Belin who Belgravians might recognise as the assistant sommelier at The Goring. Now at The Swan, he deftly guides me out of my safe zones (“No, you don’t want a Malbec.” and “Let’s stay off Old World options for now.” etc.) and on to a Portuguese Pinteivera, made in the Douro region where the big, powerful grapes that are used to make our port come from. It fills the nose with prunes, the texture is velvety but it’s weighty too. It’s not all perfect, though. My biggest gripes are that there’s no bath in the bathroom, turn-down service was left undone until 10pm, and the paper I’d ordered through my door in the morning never quite made it there. These are all small mistakes, however, when set in relief against the huge trick The Swan pulls off – walking a clever line between Disneyfication and castration. High Street, Lavenham, Suffolk CO10 9QA, 01787 247 477 (theswanatlavenham.co.uk)

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Original, limited-edition Art Deco posters by leading artists

Limited to editions of 280, our newly-commissioned Art Deco posters feature glamorous holiday destinations around the world, ski resorts in the Austrian, French and Swiss Alps, and the world’s greatest historic automobiles. Over 100 designs to choose from, all printed on 100% cotton fine art paper, measuring 97 x 65 cms.

Priced at £395 each. Private commissions are also welcome.

Pullman Editions Ltd 94 Pimlico Road Chelsea London SW1W 8PL www.pullmaneditions.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7730 0547 Email: georgina@pullmaneditions.com

Our central London gallery

View and buy online at w w w.pullmaneditions.com PullmanEd-Belgravia.indd 1

17/08/2015 10:11

Beauty &Grooming Beauty on your doorstep from Rhea Papanicolaou-Frangista & Farrah Hamid, the experts at Prettly

Something new Mimosa & Cardamom

Jo Malone has introduced a new fragrance to its collection this September. The Mimosa & Cardamom Collection is perfect for autumn with its sweetness and spice, and in candle format, it’s the perfect way to start the new season in style. Jo Malone London Mimosa and Cardamom Body Crème 175ml, £50 (jomalone.co.uk)

Care a fig

Fig & rhubarb This luxurious bath foam by Lilou et Loic has been reinvigorated this year thanks to a tantalising new scent, comprising fruity notes of fig, rhubarb and heady leather. All of its bath foams are presented in elegant, handmade glass decanters, ready for creating the perfect ambience the next time you choose to indulge in a relaxing soak. Bath Foam in Fig, Rhubarb & Leather, £95 (lilouetloic.com)

Pink’s Boutique, Anti-ageing Deep Cleanse Melt Shea butter A luxurious nourishing cleansing balm with antioxidants, green tea and natural vitamin E. £42, available at pinksboutique.com. Some availability at Aman Spa, Connaught Hotel, Carlos Place, W1K 2AL

Beauty au

naturel As a potentially Indian summer melds into the freshness of autumn, September has most of us feeling like turning a new leaf (far more so, in fact, than at new year), therefore this month we round up our favourite natural beauty products, each with a key ingredient that will do your body good.

Thameen Hair Fragrance Honeyquat

In a world full of things claiming to be unique, this truly is. The Thameen hair spray includes honeyquat (a quaternised conditioning agent made from honey), which as a natural humectant binds moisture to the hair. £85, Selfridges (selfridges.com)

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

023

health and wellbeing

Atreatment royal Francesca Lee heads to Jumeirah Carlton Tower and falls in love with a heated herbal poultice

ituated on the ninth floor, The Peak Health Club & Spa at Jumeirah Carlton Tower certainly has the wow-factor. My therapist takes me to one of the treatment rooms, passing the gym goers along the way. Feeling content (and a little smug), I’m quite happy that I’m here for some R&R rather than a workout, especially as I’m visiting on a rainy day and feel like I need to cocoon myself in some cosy towels instead of working up a sweat. The treatment room has all the usual features. Dimmed lights? Check. Soft spa music? Check. The heady scent of aromatherapy oils? Check. However, I’m

I imagine it would be especially effective post-workout here for a massage that I’ve never heard of before: the Mohom. Normally a fan of deep-tissue massage and hotstone therapy, I’m eager to try something new. The therapist presses my body at certain points over towels (a sort of all-over reflexology, if you like), while telling me this is a technique that therapists would use when massaging the royal family as they weren’t allowed to touch the skin. Towels off, the deep-tissue massage follows, but the treatment really comes into its own with a heated herbal poultice. Oh, how I love this little

024

round ball. Featuring holy basil, known for its healing properties, with every press I feel my muscles loosen. I imagine it would be especially effective post-workout. Maybe next time, when I exercise, and just like a winter coat, I’ll feel the benefit even more. On Cadogan Place, SW1X 9PY, 020 7235 1234 (jumeirah.com/jct)

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

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Planning &Development Keeping you in the know about important street plans affecting Belgravia

Stay ahead of the game Tom Gauterin and Tom Barber of Berkeley Law take a look at how July’s budget may affect Belgravians in the long term It seems a long time since the General Election, where the focus of many Belgravia residents was on Labour’s promises to introduce a mansion tax and scrap the non-dom status. There was little discussion at the time about what measures a Conservative government might introduce, so George Osborne took some by surprise in his July budget by announcing reforms to the taxation of UK resident-but-non-domiciled individuals (RNDs) and overseas owners of UK residential property through the proposal of two measures due to take effect on 6 April 2017. The first measure says that after being UK resident for 15 tax years, RNDs will be treated as UK ‘deemed domiciled’ for all three major taxes – income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax. After this deadline, their entire worldwide estates are subject to IHT and the remittance basis of taxation will no longer be available for non-UK income and gains. This still allows a significant period of time during which nonUK assets can be shielded from UK tax. However the importance of good planning will increase. For example, the 15-year period can be restarted if the RND spends five years living outside the UK.

The second measure says that UK residential property will now be subject to IHT no matter how it is owned. The rule will affect many of those who hold properties indirectly – for example, via a company. This means a £5 million flat in Eaton Square, for example, will now be subject to IHT of up to £2million. Fortunately these proposals are not the wholesale change in tax rules that the Labour Party had proposed before the last General Election but instead continue a pattern of incremental tax changes. Individuals affected by these changes have until 6 April 2017 to plan, and the Government is having to consult on the detail of how the proposals will be implemented. However, the changes are likely to affect a significant number of Belgravia’s residents and properties, whether they are full-time residents, second-home owners or properties held by investors. For some, living in the UK will become more expensive and the potential costs of owning UK residential property will continue to rise. RNDs, and non-resident owners of residential property, should prioritise a review of their affairs and seek tax advice so they are best positioned to make changes, if necessary, once the detail of this proposal becomes clearer. These rules make clear that you should review any tax advice you rely on regularly. Advice given only two or three years ago may now be out of date. (berkeley-law.com)

PLANNING APPLICATIONS

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

DATE RECEIVED

ADDRESS

PROPOSAL

29 June

Lyall Street

Rebuilding and raising roof

2 July

Eaton Mews South

Demolition and rebuilding of front facade

17 July

Chelsea Barracks

Temporary removal, restoration and reconfiguration of railings

20 July

Eaton Square

Removal and additions of partitions

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The Belgravia

Directory

A compendium of the area’s key establishments

Estate Agents Ayrton Wylie 16 Lower Belgrave Street 020 7730 4628

Douglas Lyons & Lyons 33 Kinnerton Street 020 7235 7933

Knight Frank Lettings 82-83 Chester Square 020 7881 7730

Savills 139 Sloane Street 020 7730 0822

Best Gapp & Cassells 81 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 9253

Harrods Estates 82 Brompton Road 020 7225 6506

Knight Frank Sales 47 Lower Belgrave Street 020 7881 7722

Strutt & Parker 66 Sloane Street 020 7235 9959

Chesterton Belgravia 31 Lowndes Street 020 7235 3530

Henry & James 1 Motcomb Street 020 7235 8861

Marler & Marler 6 Sloane Street 020 7235 9641

Food & Drink BARS

CAFÉS

Amaya Halkin Arcade, Motcomb Street 020 7823 1166

Tomtom Coffee House 114 Ebury Street 020 7730 1771

The Garden Room (cigar) The Lanesborough Hyde Park Corner 020 7259 5599

PUBLIC HOUSES/ DINING ROOMS

RESTAURANTS The Pantechnicon 10 Motcomb Street 020 7730 6074 thepantechnicon.com

Motcombs 26 Motcomb Street 020 7235 6382 motcombs.co.uk

The Orange 37 Pimlico Road 020 7881 9844 theorange.co.uk

The Thomas Cubitt 44 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 6060 thethomascubitt.co.uk

Uni 18a Ebury Street 020 7730 9267 restaurantuni.com

DENTIST

DOCTOR

HAIR SALONS

WELLBEING CLUB

The Beresford Clinic 2 Lower Grosvenor Place 020 7821 9411

The Belgrave Medical Centre 13 Pimlico Road 020 7730 5171

The Daniel Galvin Jr. Salon 4a West Halkin Street 020 7245 1050

ARCHITECTS/ DESIGN

CLEANING

GALLERIES

Kudu Services

88 Gallery 86-88 Pimlico Road 020 7730 2728

The Library Bar (wine) The Lanesborough Hyde Park Corner 020 7259 5599

Health & Wellbeing

Grace Belgravia 11c West Halkin Street 020 7235 8900 gracebelgravia.com

Home ANTIQUES Bennison 16 Holbein Place 020 7730 8076 Patrick Jefferson 69 Pimlico Road 020 7730 6161

Weldon Walshe 20 Grosvenor Place 020 7235 4100

Discreet, confidential cleaning services for offices and homes of distinction

27 Mortimer Street 020 8704 5988 kuduservices.co.uk

Gallery 25 26 Pimlico Road 020 7730 7516

Fashion BOUTIQUES Philip Treacy 69 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 3992

Herve Leger 29 Lowndes Street 020 7201 2590

Christian Louboutin 23 Motcomb Street 020 7245 6510

EXCLUSIVE

IT SUPPORT

Nevena Couture (clients by appointment only)

Lowndes Street 020 3539 8738 nevena.co.uk

Services BANKS Duncan Lawrie Private Banking 1 Hobart Place 020 7245 1234 duncanlawrie.com

The Caledonian Club 9 Halkin Street 020 7235 5162 caledonianclub.com

SOLICITORS

Dashwood Solutions Contact Jonny Hyam for all your IT needs 07787 507 407

POST OFFICE Post Office 6 Eccleston Street 0845 722 3344

Child & Child 14 Grosvenor Crescent 020 7235 8000 childandchild.co.uk

Psychotherapy Suzanne Thomas DHC MRes, Hypnotherapist / Psychotherapist 07770 378791 suzannethomas@ suzannethomas.co.uk suzannethomas.co.uk

TRAVEL Passepartout Homes Ltd 020 7513 2876 passepartout-homes.com info@passepartout-homes.com

Speciality Shops CIGAR SPECIALIST Tomtom Cigars 63 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 1790

CONFECTIONERS Peggy Porschen 116 Ebury Street 020 7730 1316 Pierre Hermé Paris 13 Lowndes Street 020 7245 0317 Rococo Chocolates 5 Motcomb Street 020 7245 0993

DELI La Bottega 25 Eccleston Street 020 7730 2730

JEWELLERS De Vroomen 59 Elizabeth Street 020 7730 1901

B E L G R AV I A R E S I D E N T S ’ J O U R N A L

VICKISARGE 38 Elizabeth Street 020 7259 0202

Elizabeth Gage 5 West Halkin Street 020 7823 0100 eg@elizabeth-gage.com elizabeth-gage.com

PERFUMERIES Floris 147 Ebury Street 020 7730 0304 florislondon.com

NEWSAGENT

Mayhew Newsagents 15 Motcomb Street 020 7235 5770 Mayhew Newsagents is a local Belgravian institution. As well as supplying the area with national and international newspapers and magazines, it provides an extensive range of stationery, computer supplies and postal services. Opening times: Monday to Friday 7am-6pm, Saturday 8am-2pm, Sunday 8am-1pm

Local delivery service available

BOOTMAKERS Stivaleria Cavallin 57 Elizabeth Street 020 3198 3269 stivaleriacavallin.com

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savills.co.uk

1 SPECTACULAR GRADE II LISTED PERIOD HOUSE ebury street, sw1w Drawing room ø family room ø dining room ø kitchen/breakfast room ø master bedroom suite ø 4 further bedrooms ø 3 further bathrooms ø separate shower ø garden ø first floor terrace ø 336.8 sq m (3,625 sq ft) Guide £6.75 million Freehold

Savills Sloane Street Tom Lamb tlamb@savills.com

020 7730 0822

savills.co.uk

1 IMPRESSIVE MEWS HOUSE ARRANGED OVER FIVE FLOORS grosvenor gardens mews north, sw1w Entrance hall ø drawing room ø kitchen ø master bedroom suite ø 3 further bedroom suites ø utility room ø south-west facing roof garden ø garage ø 341 sq m (3,673 sq ft) ø EPC=E

Savills Sloane Street Tom Lamb tlamb@savills.com

020 7730 0822 Guide £6.5 million Leasehold, approximately 989 years remaining plus Share of Freehold

savills.co.uk

1 EXCEPTIONAL GROUND AND GARDEN FLAT WITH PRIVATE FRONT DOOR eaton square, sw1 Entrance hall ø reception room ø conservatory ø dining area ø master bedroom suite ø further bedroom/study ø shower room ø guest cloakroom ø private front door ø private garden ø Grade II* listed ø 224 sq m (2,414 sq ft) Guide £1.75 million Leasehold, approximately 10 years remaining

Savills Sloane Street Richard Dalton rdalton@savills.com

020 7730 0822

savills.co.uk

LETTINGS LAYOUT ONLY

BEAUTIFULLY PRESENTED HOUSE SITUATED IN SOUTH BELGRAVIA ebury street, sw1 3 bedrooms ø 2 bathrooms ø reception room ø dining room ø kitchen ø guest cloakroom ø 172 sq m (1,859 sq ft) ø Council Tax=H ø EPC=D

Savills Sloane Street Guy Bradshaw gbradshaw@savills.com

020 7824 9005 Furnished £2,750 per week + £276 inc VAT tenancy paperwork fee and other charges may apply* *£36inc incVAT VATfor foreach each additional tenant/occupant/guarantor whereInventory required. Inventory out fee end – charged at termination the end of or early termination *£36 additional tenant/occupant/guarantor referencereference where required. check out fee -check charged at the of or early of the tenancy and the amount is dependent on the property size and whether furnished/unfurnished. For more details, visit www.savills.co.uk/fees. of the tenancy and the amount is dependent on the property size and whether furnished/unfurnished. For more details including example inventory fee, visit www.savills.co.uk/fees.

Grosvenor Crescent, Belgravia SW1 Elegant two bedroom apartment in exclusive building Located in a Grade II listed Regency townhouse which has recently been converted into elegant and stylish apartments retaining original period features. Master bedroom with en suite bathroom and dressing room, double bedroom with en suite bathroom, reception room, open plan reception/dining room and kitchen, study, guest cloakroom, parking, 24 hour concierge, direct lift access. EPC: F. Approximately 221 sq m (2,380 sq ft). Available furnished

KnightFrank.co.uk/lettings belgravialettings@knightfrank.com 020 3641 6005

Guide price: £5,000 per week KnightFrank.co.uk/BEQ182337

@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk

All potential tenants should be advised that, as well as rent, an administration fee of £276 will apply when renting a property. Please ask us for more information about other fees that may apply or visit KnightFrank.co.uk/tenantcharges

Belgravia Residents Journal - Sept edition

11/08/2015 15:56:26

Chester Square, Belgravia SW1 Newly refurbished house in sought after position A white stucco fronted family home within this renowned Belgravia garden square. Master bedroom suite, 4 further bedroom suites, drawing room, dining room, reception/media room, kitchen/breakfast room, study, cinema, gym, steam room, sauna, shower room, wine cellar, laundry room, 2 staff rooms, 3 cloakrooms, lift, 2 terraces, garage. Grade II listed. Approximately 585 sq m ﴾6,291 sq ft). Freehold

Guide price: £23,995,000

KnightFrank.co.uk/belgravia belgravia@knightfrank.com 020 3641 5910 Savills.co.uk sloanestreet@savills.com 020 7730 0822

@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk

KnightFrank.co.uk/BGV130060

BRJ September - 74 Chester Square - crops

07/08/2015 09:37:30

WEST HALKIN STREET, BELGRAVIA, SW1X

£3,450,000 LEASEHOLD • TWO DOUBLE BEDROOMS • EN-SUITE BATHROOMS • ENTRANCE HALL • GUEST CLOAKROOM • RECEPTION ROOM WITH STUDY • KITCHEN • UTILITY ROOM • PRIVATE GARDEN • EPC D

BELGRAVIA OFFICE 1 Motcomb Street, London SW1X 8JX +44 (0)20 7235 8861 belgraviaoffice@henryandjames.co.uk

henryandjames.co.uk

WEST EATON PLACE, BELGRAVIA, SW1X

£1,350 PER WEEK • TWO DOUBLE BEDROOMS • RECEPTION ROOM • TWO BATHROOM • KITCHEN • PROFESSIONALLY MANAGED • WOOD FLOORING • HEATING & HOT WATER INCLUDED • EPC E • PLUS £240 ADMINISTRATION FEE AND £60 REFERENCING FEE PER PERSON

BELGRAVIA OFFICE 1 Motcomb Street, London SW1X 8JX +44 (0)20 7235 8861 belgraviaoffice@henryandjames.co.uk

henryandjames.co.uk

Established 1897

Park Mansions, Belgravia SW1X An exceptionally light and spacious two bedroom apartment on the sixth floor of a period building in the heart of Knightsbridge, moments away from Harrods and Hyde Park. The property, which has just been newly decorated comprises a reception room, kitchen, two double bedrooms, two bathrooms and plenty of storage throughout. Available now for a long let on a furnished basis. EPC rating C.

Price per week: £1,275 Plus property fees: £180 Admin & £180 Checkout. References: £42 per person* *http://www.harrodsestates.com/tenants 020 7225 6759 candice.fletcher@harrodsestates.com

KNIGHTSBRIDGE OFFICE: 82 BROMPTON ROAD LONDON SW3 1ER T: 020 7225 6506 MAYFAIR OFFICE: 61 PARK LANE LONDON W1K 1QF T: 020 7409 9001 CHELSEA OFFICE: 58 FULHAM ROAD LONDON SW3 6HH T: 020 7225 6700 KENSINGTON OFFICE: 48-50 KENSINGTON CHURCH STREET W8 4DG T: 020 3650 4600

HARRODSESTATES.COM @HarrodsEstates

5150

Harrods Estates brings

LONDON property to the world

• LONDON RESIDENTIAL SALES • LONDON RESIDENTIAL LETTINGS • ACQUISITIONS • NEW DEVELOPMENTS • ASSET MANAGEMENT • PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

HARRODSESTATES.COM @HarrodsEstates

5150 HE A4 Belgravia Rsidents ad.indd 1

12/08/2015 10:21

Wilton Row

Knightsbridge SW1X

Price on Application

A superb 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom (all en-suite) mews maisonette with its own private entrance & parking. Peacefully located in a tranquil cobbled mews off Wilton Crescent, this spacious accommodation is perfectly arranged, light & well presented. EPC rating D

Knightsbridge & Belgravia

020 7235 8090

sales.knightsbridge@chestertons.com

chestertons.com

Chester Row

London SW1W

ÂŁ3,450,00 leasehold

A bright & spacious 5 bedroom family house with a mature patio garden located in the heart of Belgravia. The house, although well laid out, would benefit from some updating. Chester Row is well located close to Sloane Square & the restaurants & cafeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of Elizabeth Street. EPC rating E

Knightsbridge & Belgravia

020 7235 8090

sales.knightsbridge@chestertons.com

You can now collect thousands of with Chestertons Contact your local branch or visit chestertons.com/avios to find out more. Terms and Conditions apply see chestertons.com/avios for details

Cliveden Place, SW1 A bright and well presented one bedroom flat in a highly regarded mansion block a momentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; walk from Sloane Square. Located on the second floor with south facing views this airy property would make an ideal pied de Terre.

Leasehold

ÂŁ725,000

* * * * * *

Reception Room Kitchen Bedroom Bathroom Porter Lift

L a u r e L G r o v e i s a s t u n n i n G n e w b u i L d h o m e o f 1 2 , 0 0 0 s q f t L o c at e d o n t h e p r i vat e c o o m b e h i L L e s tat e , j u s t e i G h t m i L e s f r o m L o n d o n ’ s w e s t e n d • 6 bedrooms

• Bespoke David Linley kitchen

• 6 reception rooms

• Wine cellar & cinema room

• 0.6 acres landscaped gardens

• Separate 1 bedroom apartment

• 13m swimming pool, sauna & gym

• Overlooking Coombe Hill Golf Course

+44 (0)20 8947 9393

p r i c e o n a p p L i c at i o n

www.laurel-grove.co.uk

+44 (0)20 8971 8111

BeSt Luxury HOuSe • BeSt interiOr DeSiGn • BeSt exteriOr DeSiGn t r i p L e G o L d w i n n e r – w h at h o u s e awa r d s

www.qdevelopments.com

QDE0091_Mayfair Advert_Opt2.indd 1

19/8/15 15:06:21

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33 Kinnerton Street, London, SW1X 8ED

Kinnerton Yard

£675 per week A newly refurbished bright and modern flat located in a particularly quiet courtyard development. Kinnerton Yard is situated in a village area of Knightsbridge, by the fashionable shops and restaurants of Motcomb Street, Sloane Street and Brompton Road, 5 minutes’ walk from Knightsbridge and Hyde Park tube stations. bed – bath – reception

Kinnerton Street

£8,000,000 Freehold An extremely spacious and bright family home rarely available to market set in a beautiful location in this wonderful street. Hyde Park and local shops and restaurants are all a short walk away. This house comprises master bedroom with its own en-suite bathroom, dressing area and patio, as well as three further double bedrooms. There is also a double garage and the property is Freehold. Large Reception Room - Master Bedroom Suite - 4 Further Bedrooms - 2 Bathrooms - Kitchen - Dining Room - Entrance Hall Study - Utility Room - Guest WC - Double Garage - 2 Patios - Terrace *We will make an initial one-off tenancy agreement charge of £250 inc Vat per tenancy plus £35 inc Vat reference charger per tenant. Inventory check out fee charged dependant on size of the property.

Tel 020 7235 7933 Email enquiries@dll.uk.com Web www.dll.uk.com

BASiL STREET SW3 Wimmaculately i l l i apresented m Mthree ew s , flatSinW An bedroom this 1 beautifully maintained mansion building in the heart of Knightsbridge. The building is ideally located Harrods andpopular the shops andbuilding restaurants the area, and and moments fromofKnightsbridge An immaculately refurbished fourthfor floor flat in this portered behindof Lowndes Square in the heart Knightsbridge. underground station. The property benefits from a west facing terrace and underground parking. ■

Three Bedrooms

• 3 bedrooms Two Bathrooms • 3 bathrooms

■

• Reception room • Kitchen

Reception Room Kitchen/Breakfast Room £3,575,000 Share of freehold

■ ■

£3,300,000 Subject to Contract

Entrance Hall/Dining Area • Underground parking Area • Lift ■ Porter ■ Lift ■

• Terrace ■ Loft Storage • Resident porter

■

1397 sq ft EE rating E

• EE – D ■

Share of Freehold

UK RESIDENTIAL, EUROPEAN & INTERNATIONAL REMOVALS

Import, Export & Storage by Air, Road & Sea

Abels.

Seen in all the prime locations.

• UK Residential Removals • Worldwide Relocations • Weekly European Removals • Storage Services • Car Transportation & Storage • Office & Commercial Moving • Antiques, Fine Art Packing, Storing & Moving Telephone: 020 3773 5796 E-Mail: enquiries@abels.co.uk www.abels.co.uk

Certificate No. FS23942

Seen in all the prime locations 297x210mm.indd 1

07/07/2015 10:23

facebook.com/struttandparker twitter.com/struttandparker

struttandparker.com

Lyall Mews, Belgravia SW1W

An impressive four bedroom, low built freehold house, benefiting from a home cinema room, gym, extensive wine cellar, large roof terrace, courtyard garden, an integral garage, off-street parking and access to Belgrave Square gardens.

Knightsbridge 020 7235 9959 james.forbes@struttandparker.com

ÂŁ9,950,000 Freehold

Belgrave Place, Belgravia SW1

A magnificent first floor lateral apartment converted across two period buildings in prime Belgravia. Accommodation includes a grand drawing room, separate dining room, three bedroom suites and a balcony across the full width of the property.

Knightsbridge 020 7235 9959 james.forbes@struttandparker.com JSA Knight Frank 0207 881 7722

ÂŁ8,950,000 Leasehold

facebook.com/struttandparker twitter.com/struttandparker

struttandparker.com

Eaton Square, Belgravia SW1

A beautifully designed lateral penthouse apartment with a dual aspect, vaulted ceilings and leafy views of the Eaton Square gardens.

Knightsbridge 020 7235 9959

james.gilbert-green@struttandparker.com

ÂŁ5,995,000 Leasehold

BELGRAVIA

A particular take on property

2015

Resident’s Journal A U G U S T 201 5

I SSU E 0 39

Step inside your local office for a copy of magazine Market leaders in Knightsbridge and Belgravia

66 Sloane Street, London, SW1X 9SH 020 7235 9959 | struttandparker.com

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