Dolphin Square’s Guide to living in Pimlico...suggest. The latter, a nostalgic fantasia of ‘60s...

Dolphin Square’sGuide to living

in Pimlico

ww.dolphinsquare.co.uk/dolphin-square/properties/

Pimlico is London’s great enigma. Despite being primely located in Zone 1, between Victoria station and the River Thames, it has always flown under

the radar. Despite its Tate gallery and tube station, this is an area which most Londoners miss: funnily-

named and easily-neglected.

Yet this modesty is exactly what makes Pimlico brilliant.

Those in the know relish a low-key London gem; a plucky

place which reveals its charms but gradually. The soon-

to-be superstar chefs and moved-in maestros. The

secret shopping scene and London-leading vintage. The

unexpectedly beautiful apartment blocks, the flowery

cottages borrowed from the English countryside and the

palpable whiff of community spirit. Even the underground

rivers and appointment-only art stashes

That’s where this mini-guide comes in. Read on for our

insider tips on Pimlico’s best eats, weekend treats, secret

treasures and nearby pleasures.

HIGH-END FOOD, LOW-END PRICES

Secreted away on the northern corner of lovely Vincent Square is

this dining haunt for clever clogs. The Vincent Rooms, you see, are

part of Westminster Kingsway College’s hospitality department

– whose impressive alumni includes Sophie Wright, Jamie Oliver

and Ainsley Harriott – and its cooks are the school’s second and

third-year chef students. Decidedly innovative, these future stars’

menus alter daily and span two venue options: the airy, mod-

ern European-serving Brasserie (open daily for lunch and Tues,

Weds & Thurs evenings in term time), which faces the square’s

tree-lined school playing fields, and the intimate, haute-cuisine

Escoffier Room (daily lunch and Weds & Thurs evenings in term

time) at the rear. Tasting menus start from just £27.50.

76 Vincent Square, SW1P 2PD

020 7802 8391

westking.ac.uk/about-us/vincent-rooms-restaurant

D O L P H I N S Q U A R E ’ S G U I D E T O L I V I N G I N P I M L I C O

LEADER OF THE PACK

Wilton Road has had the makings of a gourmand’s paradise for

years now, with quality establishments mushrooming up both

sides. Its newest arrival is the clincher. A marriage of ex-Brawn

and The Square chef Peter Hall and former River Cafe somme-

lier Katie Exton, homely Lorne delivers a wholesome, zesty and

unstintingly modern taste of Britain. Witness the mackerel with

pickled cucumber and nasturtium, the confit quail under butter-

nut squash, barley and mountain yam, or simply the sensation-

ally celeriac velouté, foaming around some poached haddock.

Exton’s European wine list is marvellous, too, and there’s even

‘builders’ tea ice cream’ for pudding. The catch? Though pleas-

antly pale-hued and full of pot plants, Lorne’s teeny interior

doesn’t fit many and word is spreading – leaving many would-be

diners disappointed. In other words? Book yonks ahead.

76 Wilton Road, SW1V 1DE

020 3327 0210

lornerestaurant.co.uk

BestRestaurantsin Pimlico

BEST OF BRITISH

Pimlico’s coolest hotel is the Artist’s Residence, a chic backstreet

townhouse to Victoria station. Below its ten shabby-chic

bedrooms sits the small, brightly bedecked Cambridge Street

Kitchen restaurant. Championing British producers wherever

possible, it’s open all day, but dinners are best: changing monthly,

seasonal menus include treats like duck breast beside pickled

cherries and gingerbread, or sirloin steak served with broccoli,

malted Shiitake mushrooms and smoked anchovy butter –

plus a suggested wine or ale pairing in every case. Before

all that, though, begin by sipping a Passport to Pimlico (gin,

hibiscus, elderflower, dry Curacao, sparkling wine) in the low-lit,

speakeasy-style Clarendon Cocktail Cellar, and enquire about this

building’s history as a Victorian pub of, well, dubious character.

76 Vincent Square, SW1P 2PD

020 7802 8391

westking.ac.uk/about-us/vincent-rooms-restaurant

SPANISH SPARKLE

Just north of Dolphin Square, Spanish joint Goya seduces

with its neighbourhood atmosphere and permanent gaggle

of loyal locals. You’ll soon understand why they keep

coming. Casual diners sit upstairs, including around a small

bar which has sangria and Estrella on draught and, the

weather allowing, a small pavement terrace. A more formal

experience awaits in the basement, with waiter serviced,

white-clothed tables and shadowy alcoves perfect for dates.

Staff are uniformly friendly, prices uniformly low and portions

uniformly huge, be they tapas or main courses. Standouts

include tender grilled lamb cutlets, seafood paellas, creamy

croquettes and husks of Manchego cheese with quince jelly,

plus Galician almond tarts for dessert.

34 Lupus Street, SW1V 3EB

020 7976 5309

goyarestaurant.co.uk


OLD-SCHOOL OPTION

If you’re used to Michelin-star dining and the finest produce,

then the Regency Cafe won’t be for you. But if incredibly low

prices and authentic atmosphere matter far more, prepare to

grin broadly. Located just beyond the Tate Britain, the Regency

Cafe is an homage to the Bakelite era: think photo-cluttered

cream tiles and formica tabletops. No wonder it has appeared

in films like Layer Cake and 2010’s Brighton Rock remake. In

this age of granola and quinoa, the menu is also determinedly

simple, and gaspingly cheap: full English breakfasts cost

a piffling £2,55, while lunch specials – steak and chips,

Shepherd’s Pie – are 6.25. Note that the cafe is cash-only, and

only opens from 7am-2.30pm and 4pm-7.15pm, with weekend

hours limited to 7am-midday on Saturdays.

17-19 Regency St, SW1P 4BY

020 7821 6596

regencycafe.co.uk

TopUnusual Finds

in Pimlico

RUMMAGE HEAVEN

“A re-absorption of objects into the fabric of life” – that’s how

owner Karen Turner summarises her brilliant, bonkers shop on

Tachbrook Street. Primarily, Cave is an exchange: furniture,

clothes, jewellery, dolls, desk chairs, deckchairs and deck shoes

might all be on offer, along with the odd Smeg fridge or Chanel

lampshade. Everything is selectively chosen, with many donations

declined; this is by no means a junk shop. If items don’t sell, they

then get creatively upcycled by everyone from A-Level printmakers

to Karen’s artisan-carpenter husband, Nigel in an adjacent studio.

There’s also a gallery space, life-drawing classes on Thursday

nights and, newly, the Cake Hole: a repurposed food wagon

serving crepes and toasties to sofa-resting shoppers. Best of all,

you’ll always receive a warm welcome, and no pressure to buy.

81 Tachbrook Street, SW1V 2QP

020 7592 9155

cavepimlico.co.uk


VIEWS AND A VICTIM

A small, sleepy rectangle of plane trees, dark green

grass and wood benches, Pimlico Gardens sits astride

the Thames facing Battersea Power Station; all in all, it’s

a lovely spot in which to meditate or read. But there’s

also a more morbid reason for coming here. At the

Gardens’ eastern end is a classical marble statue of one

William Huskisson, made by the acclaimed sculptor John

Gibson. Despite his toga and scroll here, Huskisson was

a 19th-century MP who is best known as, supposedly, the

world’s first-ever railway casualty. Commissioned soon

after his 1830 death on the just-opened Liverpool & Man-

chester Railway, this rather bizarre tribute was originally

intended for Liverpool’s Custom House, but ended up in

Pimlico by dint of being too big.

myparks.westminster.gov.uk/parks/pimlico-gardens

A re-absorption of objects into

the fabric of life

SQUARE ROUTE

London squares don’t come handsomer than this sidestreet

spellbinder. Vincent Square is found just off busy Vauxhall Bridge

Road, but you won’t know it from the snoozy, villagey atmos-

phere. Framing cricket and rugby pitches owned by Westminster

School, its four long sides are each attractive thanks to stone

and weathered-brick Edwardian houses, stately trees and black

lanterns lit at dusk. Loveliest of all are the flower-festooned

northeastern and southeastern stretches, whose bucolic feel

makes it near-impossible to believe that this same land was once

a horrid plague pit. Look out for a sculpture of Greek fertility god

Priapus – carrying a pair of shears in acknowledgement of the

neighbouring Royal Horticultural Society hall – as you stroll the

entire 0.5-mile-perimeter, and make sure to detour down Maun-

sel Street, whose pastel-coloured facades render it SW1’s most

Instagrammable road.


TRACING THE TYBURN

What’s long, winding, centuries-old and virtually impossible to

spy? The River Tyburn, that’s what. One of London’s ‘lost rivers’,

the Tyburn was culverted in the 1800s. It still flows under Pimlico,

however, with traces evident to the keen-eyed. Named after the

same stretch of water, Tachbrook Street’s riverine curves ape

the Tyburn’s course beneath, while anyone willing to put an ear

to one of its grates will hear a telltale babble. Continue south to

Grosvenor Road, where a river-honouring plaque displays next to

Tyburn House. Just below, the phantom Tyburn sporadically feeds

the Thames via a sluiced arch. That’s a far cry from its glory days

as a fishing paradise; days which the Tyburn Angling Society is

currently campaigning to recreate, apparently unphased by the

need to demolish a certain Buckingham Palace.

HAT’S AMAZING

Sure, it sells menswear, from ties and trousers to canes

and cravates. But, above all, Le Monde sell hats. Amid its

narrow, dimly-lit space you’ll find Nelsons, Panamas, pork

pies and sombreros; bowlers, boaters, bonnets and berets.

A chaotic front window sets the tone, with thousands more

pieces covering every idiosyncratic inch of space inside.

It’s a multicoloured triumph of clutter, and one of London’s

most incredibly esoteric shops. At the rear is normally

found honcho Maurice Monde, almost 90 years young.

“Altogether, Le Monde has been open for half a century,” he

reveals. “We source our hats from around the world, and sell

them to the public, people in showbusiness, theatres and

hotel doormen.”

79 Wilton Road, SW1V 1DE

020 7828 4928

BestWeekend Options

in Pimlico

SECOND-HAND HEAVEN

Attention, bargain-hunting hounds: Pimlico boasts one of the

capital’s best clusters of charity shops. The epicentre is busy

Warwick Way, east of Belgrave Road, and the starting point

its Hospices of Hope (#40, SW1V 1RY). Cross the street to

womenswear specialist Sue Ryder, and then turn left onto Wilton

Way for Trinity Hospice, particularly strong on DVDs. Back on

Warwick Way you’ll first find Oxfam and its superb shoe selection

before three FARA shops. Where the main Warwick Way branch

stocks everyday garb, Tachbrook Street’s FARA Kids and Upper

Tachbrook Street’s RetroMania are as specialist as their names

suggest. The latter, a nostalgic fantasia of ‘60s memorabilia

and Pendleton waistcoats, is especially wondrous. Finish a block

south on Churton Street at Boutique, a Terence Higgins Trust store

hailed for cheap designerwear. Retail guru Mary Portas is

among the disciples.


CHORAL CONCERT

Pimlico has three main constants: impressive, porticoed white

stucco mansions designed in the 1860s by master-builder

Thomas Cubitt, leafy garden squares, and magnificent churches.

Among the latter category, three stand-out. St James The Less is

simply enchanting, a masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture

secluded off Vauxhall Bridge Road, its red-brick-and-stone

tower particularly magical. Admire too the surrounding Lillington

Garden estate, a multilayered marvel which is the most attractive

public housing you’ll ever find. Just east are two Grade II-listed

Thomas Cundy churches constructed from ragstone: Lupus

Street’s elegantly-spired St Saviour’s and the tranquil, tree-

fringed St Gabriel’s. This latter is superb on Sunday evenings,

when choral evensong – open to all – thrills the neck hairs of

every lucky listener.

Warwick Square, SW1V 2AD

020 7233 9431

stgabrielspimlico.com

PRETTY PICTURES

Pimlico’s headline act is undoubtedly Tate Britain, set near the

Thames amid John Islip Street’s redbrick terraces and devoted

to domestic artists. A rolling cycle of exhibitions – recent ones

have focused on David Hockney and London-made works by

French impressionist émigrés like Claude Monet – accompany

the astonishing permanent collection’s celebrated clump of

watery Turner paintings and pieces by everyone else from

Hogarth to Hepworth. Pieces by artists nominated for the

annually-controversial Turner Prize are also displayed every

autumn. You can visit the archives by special appointment,

while devoted Art in Focus talks, curator’s tours and late-night

Friday parties are regularly held. Post-art, head to the muraled

Rex Whistler Restaurant for a heady wine list or a small gift

shop to buy quirky greeting cards.

Millbank, SW1P 4RG

020 7887 8888

tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain


CATCH A BAND

Music’s also available from 4.30 to 7:30pm on Sundays in

CASK Pub & Kitchen on Tachbrook Street – specifically, acoustic

bluegrass and traditional Irish music. That’s ample excuse

to sample this sprawling venue’s Sunday roasts or burgers

blending aged rib and rump beef from Pimlico’s own Freeman’s

Butchers (located on Lupus Street), a Royal Warrant holder by

appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, no less. CASK’s main

specialty, though, is beer: beside a constantly-rotating guest ale

selection, it has 15 kegs from global brewers and an extensive

selection of bottled craft beer list. Run by local Pimlican, Martin

Hayes, the place aspires to a high-quality, 21st century update to

the staple British pub.

6 Charlwood Street, SW1V 2EE

0207 630 7225

caskpubandkitchen.com

FROCKS AND FANCIES

A much posher consumer experience is available at the southern

stretch of Moreton Street, a few steps from Dolphin Square.

The bijou parade of boutiques here include children’s clothing-

makers Little Bevan, whose store stocks off-the-rack options,

and womenswear specialist Ulrich Engler Couture, where

personalised fittings are followed by perusals of cocktail dresses,

coats and day suits. Then there’s homeware specialist Victoria

Windsor and its cards, cushions, candles and jewellery, and the

small headquarters of celebrated interior designer Nicky Dobree.

Peek into Peta Smith’s Antique Textiles, too, and enter a exotic

world of tapestries and silk damasks. Sustenance is available in

curry form at Pimlico Tandoori or the Khallouk and Taylor cafe

– a pizza specialist by day, and wine bar of an evening – where

hanging meat joints lend a rustic air.

OnPimlico’sDoorstep


HOWZATTTT?

A fixture whenever England’s cricket team play home series

against visiting nations – traditionally for the summer season’s

final test match – The Oval doubles as Surrey’s home ground.

Found by crossing Vauxhall Bridge and continuing south under

Vauxhall station, it fits 24,500 spectators and backs onto an iconic

Victorian gasometer. England’s first-ever home Test match was

played here in 1880, as were the inaugural England international

football match and original FA Cup final in 1872. Behind-the-

scenes ground tours are currently offered on most Fridays

and Saturdays, and feature access to the Test Match Special

commentary box, Club Museum and stately Members Pavillion,

plus a chance to stride out to the wicket.

Harleyford Street, SE11 5SS

0844 375 1845 (for tours)

kiaoval.com

LEAFY LOVELINESS

Celebrating the beauty and importance of plants, the Chelsea

Physic Garden is a brick-walled rectangle slightly west of Pimlico

and reached via Ebury Bridge. Founded in 1673 by the Worshipful

Society of Apothecaries, it’s now London’s oldest botanic garden.

Stretching down towards the Thames, the slumberous grounds

contain around 5,000 edible, useful, medicinal or historical

fauna; peacefully strolling about, you might pass pomegranate

trees or breathe in eucalyptus; there’s Britain’s largest outdoor

fruiting olive tree to find, and a subtropical greenhouse in which

to daydream. Finish with lunch or afternoon tea at the Tangerine

Dream Café. An annual Christmas Fair takes place over the last

weekend of November, but the garden otherwise closes

on Saturdays.

66 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 4HS

020 7352 5646

chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk

LONDON’S VIP SITES

Follow the Thames north and you’ll come to a holy trinity of

London tourist sights: Westminster Abbey, the Palace of

Westminster & Big Ben. Start in the magnificent Abbey, the

traditional place of coronation and regular burial site for British

monarchs and home to a gorgeous octagonal chapter house

(westminster-abbey.org). Tours are also offered around next

door’s Palace of Westminster, and particularly of its two Houses

of Parliament – the Commons and Lords – all year. Book well in

advance (parliament.uk/visiting). Separate excursions did take

in Big Ben – or rather the Elizabeth Tower and its famous bell,

which is the actual Big Ben – but these are on hold until 2020

due to refurbishment work. If compensation is needed, the

Imperial War Museum and 10 Downing Street are nearby…


STILL SWINGING

A private road used by the reigning monarch to travel to Kew

Gardens until 1830, King’s Road gained special fame in the 1960s

as a counter-cultural epicentre amid the hippie and punk eras.

Mary Quant founded the miniskirt, while the Chelsea Drugstore,

as mentioned in the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What

You Want, employed female motorcycle couriers in purple

catsuits. Stretching almost two miles through Chelsea from

ritzy Sloane Square, it’s now associated chiefly with high-end

shopping and James Bond. Fashion-wise, Vivienne Westwood still

maintains a shop here, now accompanied by department store

Peter Jones, the Saatchi Gallery and perfumers Penhaligon’s.

Very close to the latter is Wellington Square, where avid 007

researcher Gary Giblin has pinpointed the spy’s flat, using clues

from three of Ian Fleming’s novels. Pay attention, James!

SAY HELLO TO HER MAJESTY

A measure of Pimlico’s desirable geography is that its northern

border stands just five minutes’ walk from the Queen’s house.

So stroll towards St James’ Park and you’ll soon be gazing

at Buckingham Palace, its forecourt patrolled by red-coated

infantry. Very formal, trumpet-happy Changing the Guard

ceremonies take place at 11am on Mondays, Wednesdays,

Fridays and Sundays in winter, and daily during July and

August. Want to see more? The Queen’s Gallery, showcasing

monarchy-owned artworks and located just behind the palace

along the Royal Mews, is open every day, while the Mews

themselves open February-November. Tours of the palace’s

ornate State Rooms – where guests are received, including the

Throne Room – run from late-July until late-September.

Buckingham Palace Road, SW1A 1AA

0303 123 7324 (bookings)

royalcollection.org.uk/visit/buckinghampalace

Just 5 minutes’walk from theQueen’s house

ww.dolphinsquare.co.uk/dolphin-square/properties/

Residential Lettings +44 (0)20 7798 [email protected]

Dolphin Square’s Guide to living in Pimlico...suggest. The latter, a nostalgic fantasia of ‘60s...

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Transcript of Dolphin Square’s Guide to living in Pimlico...suggest. The latter, a nostalgic fantasia of ‘60s...