Best Design
Feature continues
Advertisement
Inn The Park
Michael Hopkins’ welcoming wood and glass structure sits perfectly within St James’s Park. With its generous terrace and sliding glazed walls, visitors really feel that they are ‘in the park’. The interior of lined golden larch has a classy ’30s feel, with beautifully embossed mock-croc leather seats, mustardy table tops, and marble partitioned booths. As one would expect with Habitat’s Tom Dixon in charge of the fit-out, everything is extremely covetable – streamlined champagne buckets, wooden coat stands, even the cutlery and cruets. Yet it all seems utterly practical, thanks to robust materials, and plenty of space for buggies and wheelchairs.
Inn the Park, St James’s Park, SW1A 2BJ (020 7451 9999/ www.innthepark.co.uk) St James’s Park tube. Open Mon 8-11am, 12noon-2.30pm; Tue-Fri 8am-11am, 12noon-2.30pm, 6-8.30pm; Sat 9-11am, 12noon-3pm, 6-8.30pm; Sun 9-11am, 12noon-3pm. Open daily for takeaway 11am-6pm.
Runners-up
Le Cercle
Designed by United Designers and Keith Hobbs, Le Cercle’s more chic than the average basement dining room, and benefits from a double-height space and opulent materials. Diaphanous curtains that can be drawn across its booths, lend a frisson.
Le Cercle, 1 Wilbraham Place, SW1X 9AE (020 7901 9999) Sloane Square tube. Open Tue-Sat 12noon-3pm, 3-5.30pm, 6-11pm. Bar open Tue-Sat 12noon-12midnight.
Cocoon
In keeping with its name, Cocoon, designed by Stephane Dupoux, is comprised of intimate areas separated by curtains, quilted walls, and womb-like chairs. Despite enthusiastic reviews of the Asian cuisine, it’s Cocoon’s centrally positioned bar that has been the real runaway success. Cocoon, 65 Regent St, W1B 4EA (020 7494 7600/www.cocoon-restaurants.com) Piccadilly Circus tube. Open Mon-Wed 12noon-3pm, 5.30pm-1am; Thur-Fri 12noon-3pm, 5.30pm-3am; Sat 5.30pm-3am; Sun 5.30-10.30pm.
Patara
Dols Wong Architects, working with Ou Baholyodhin, have created a miniature teak palace, finished with gold leaf, and made it the centrepiece of this fourth London branch. Plenty of silk and exotic foliage enhances the opulenct feel.
Patara, 15 Greek St, W1D 4DP (020 7437 1071) Leicester Square or Tottenham Court Rd tube. Open Mon-Sat 12noon
London Eating & Drinking|
|
The best of London in your inbox
|
|
