![]() ![]() I spent a good while devouring the interior design before the food was even brought to us. This 18th-centry townhouse serves afternoon tea during the day and cocktails in the evening, its phrase “Eat your Art out” perfectly describing the culinary exhibition space. It seems appropriate to set the scene: sketch was opened in December 2002 by French Michelin-stared master chef Pierre Gagnaire and restaurateur Mourad “Momo” Mazouz their desire to create ‘a centre, a “lieu” or destination place, for food, art and music’. While I waited with an old friend for a new friend to arrive, Charles treated us to a game of hop sketch….well, hop scotch but I think allowances on the name must be made! This fun, refreshing and delicious theme continued throughout our afternoon at this sharp and fashionable venue. Instead, to entice you into sketch, is Charles the aesthetically delicious doorman. In the heart of Mayfair, amongst Vivienne Westwood, Dior and Jimmy Choo, there is one boutique venue which doesn’t have a store window to show off its delights. Sketch London serves up a luxuriously chic afternoon tea, the décor and atmosphere as artful and delicious as the bubbles and bites. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window).Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window).Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window).Don’t miss out on exploring the capital’s Royal Parks – from St James’ Park and Hyde Park in the centre to the majestic Hampton Court and wilderness of Richmond Park in the southwest. Visitors can roam around one of Britain’s finest medieval castles and royal prison, and learn about the final days of Anne Boleyn at the Tower of London or, for the less bloodthirsty, visit the Queen’s London home, Buckingham Palace. London’s royal history is not to be missed. And that’s not to mention world-renowned arts venues, galleries and museums, award-winning theatre and unrivalled shopping – all found within a few Tube stops of each other. There are very British pursuits like the Oxford and Cambridge boat race, changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and an impressive collection of traditional English pubs. From a bloody, squalid history to the vanguard of fashion in the Swinging 1960s to the buzzing metropolis it is today, London has something for everyone. Since then it’s evolved into one of the greatest cities on earth. The UK's capital was founded by the Romans shortly after they invaded in 43AD. ![]() The wine list is bursting with thoroughbred bottles perfectly selected to enhance the food. These are precisely conceived, intelligently constructed dishes, and the dessert menu is a riot of equally precise and beautiful options, from iced lavender-honey galette, citrus marmalade with Kirsch, lemon opaline to Bramley apple terrine, lemon sponge, Limoncello and yuzu ganache. Lamb chop Milanese with onion, mint sauce, mustard, borlotti beans and red pepper salad is one of the meat options and vegetarians can enjoy dishes like braised endive with orange juice and grilled mushrooms or purple potato bavaroise, vegetables, golden raisins and balsamic vinegar. You might move on to perfectly timed fillets of crisp-skinned sea bream with silky and subtle anchovy butter, vibrant broccoli purée with and seaweed with a minerally ozone flavour. The à la carte offers a choice of hot or cold starter – witness, perhaps, a feather-light haddock and scallop soufflé with a punchy Colman’s mustard beurre blanc and intensely flavoured leek fondue, or red beetroot tartare, raspberry, redcurrants, Montgomery Cheddar and seaweed caviar. Pierre Gagnaire’s food is as vibrant and entertaining as the setting, exuberantly creative, playful and often accompanied by a live DJ, the modern French/European menus, which change every two months, demonstrate an endless stream of inventive, technically accomplished brasserie dishes. Under its astonishing glazed cupola roof, there are copper-coloured walls and beautiful yellow fabrics throughout, while the walls are adorned with specially commissioned pieces by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare. A Grade II listed Georgian townhouse in the heart of Mayfair, all the venues at Sketch are unusual in terms of their interior design, and The Gallery is no exception. Stylish venues combining food, drinks, music and art are reasonably commonplace these days, but Sketch certainly blazed a trail when it launched 20 years ago. ![]()
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