On the Tuesday of LFW I received an SMS from a charming publicist:
“Antonio Berardi drinks party hosted by Peroni & The Corinthia Hotel. Whitehall Place/Northumberland Avenue. Antonio is looking forward to seeing you there”.
I read it out to Lovely Daniel, my driver, and he frowned. We certainly know about Peroni — that’s the beer, and between us we should have heard of The Corinthia. I started my magazine career on Condé Nast Traveller, & pride myself on my comprehensive hotel knowledge, and Daniel is a human almanac.
We thought about it some more as he drove me down the Embankment after the 10 Corso Como party at Liberty, and swung up before the Hungerford Bridge. All we could see at the appointed spot was scaffolding. Lots of scaffolding. Surrounding us were stately government buildings. Nothing that could possibly be a hotel. We drove around the block, keeping a weather eye out for the usual line of black cars, photographers, liggers & clipboard people that mark a fashion event.
Nothing. Not a sniff of a party. Wardrobe Slave & I decided to investigate on foot. Then we spotted a solitary guy, lurking behind a construction sign and muffled up to the ears against the cold. He waved us 50 yards down a walkway in the scaffolding, where a very cold publicist waited, hidden up some stone steps into a building site, and then towards this door. (Sorry shaky ‘phone pics.)
It opened onto this:
It really did feel as though Alice in Wonderland was the theme of the week. The wall mural was illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti and refers to the history of the site. Apparently we were standing in the old Hotel Metropole, opened in 1886 and, in its heyday, London’s smartest society hotel. In disuse for years, the building has been bought from the Crown Estate and will open as the shiny, super luxe, five star The Corinthia in October this year.
Meanwhile, the owners carved out an entire pop-up restaurant from the carcass which was open for just three days during LFW.
Extraordinary. Not as extraordinary as chef Massimo Riccioli’s apertivo though. We fell on them like ravening wolves fashion editors, food deprived since breakfast. (Haribo don’t count.) I remember something ambrosial from aubergines briefly touching my lips before being swallowed, gannet-like.
The bliss of being fed & watered during Fashion Week. Thank you Mr Berardi, Peroni & The Corinthia.
Photographs: 1 & 4 courtesy of The Corinthia. 2,3 & 5 by LLG
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
That sounds a little bit magical, I love secret parties
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How do I get your life?
‘pop ups’ are so exciting and add such fizz to a venue.…. i wonder what music they kept you happy with??
xx
I love the ambience.. perfecto!
That restaurant looks amazing! Shame it’s only temporary
I went to my first fashion party last week, and it was just like this — all hole in the wall and miles away from the busy street front! It also had free food and alcohol, bliss!
Maybe my next event will feature a full-blown pop up restaurant. Fingers crossed!
Poppy xox