The Bunch of Grapes - A Choice Pick!

I’ve been to The Bunch of Grapes pub a bunch of times.  It’s on Brompton Road, a few short blocks from the polished brass doors of Harrods Department Store. Convenient.  But, in London, convenience does not trump great beer, wonderful food, or startlingly posh décor.  The Bunch of Grapes has all three, PLUS the convenience.  Don’t bother to search. Great is right down the street.

In 1777 The Bunch of Grapes had just opened, making it older than the United States.  Wait a sec.  Didn’t the U.S. start in 1776.  Nope.  Not until 1783 and the Treaty of Paris. Win that bar bet!

Inside this pub, the pure Victorian décor dates from the late 19^th Century.   Dark wood.  Magnificent cut-glass privacy panels.  Privacy was essential to the Victorian upper classes. Women and men did not sit together, for the simple reason that upper class men did not drink or smoke in the presence of ladies.  For the upper classes, the key was etiquette and decorum in all things. 

Discretion ruled, as did Queen Victoria, from 1837 until her death in 1901.  Often called the Pax Britannica, it was not as stagnant as some think.  The population of England, Scotland, and Wales nearly doubled.  Peace has a tendency to do that.  Unfortunately, it was also the time of the potato famine, which cut the population of Ireland nearly in half.

Victorian names you might remember:  Disraeli, Gladstone, Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Charles Dickens.  In this pub, you’re in the middle of that famous era.

The etched glass panels are extraordinary!

It's the small touches that add atmosphere

During Victoria’s reign, both prosperity and poverty increased.  Child labor at it’s worst. Sections of London were poor, in the dire sense that those of us in the west can no longer comprehend.

Time to get back to the pub, but it pays to remember the time period that envelopes you as you sit on your comfortable posterior and sip a pint of English ale.

The very word pub comes from the Victorians.  It’s short for Public House and it was often asked of a man, ‘Where do you drink?” as opposed to “Where do you live.”

Want to read more about the Victorians and pubs?  http://www.victorianlondon.org/entertainment/publichouses.htm

So sit back, have a pint of The Bunch of Grapes eponymous ale, and enjoy stepping into another era.  Eponymous??? Means taking the same name.

While you’re ordering that second pint, take a gander outside, along Brompton Road.  It began as open country, morphed to gardens, which in turn gave way to grand houses. King William III, established his court at Kensington Palace in 1686, and a town grew around it.

1851 brought The Great Exhibition.  Buildings sprang up, many of the stately homes came down, and after The Exhibition museums and Harrods took their place. The Piccadilly Metro Line opened in 1906 and is still one of the main arteries and the one you rode if you got off at Knightsbridge or South Kensington station.

See what you can learn sitting in a stylishly elegant Victorian pub, in the heart of upper crust Knightsbridge, sipping a real ale and washing down some steak and ale pie, or fish and chips?  Some folks only wander through the wonders of Harrods and rush off to another place, blissfully ignorant of the history in front of them and beneath their feet.

A great lesson for all of us:  The more beer you drink, the smarter you get!

http://gkpubs.co.uk/pubs-in-london/bunch-of-grapes-pub/

Tea at Harrods

I keep telling myself I’m not going to Harrods this time.  Been there over and over. Trotted through the misty rain.  Pushed through the fumbling crowds.  Met the security guards’ stares with a sunny smile.  Nope, not this time.  Not going again.

Then somebody mentions the name, damn them, and I find myself in Knightsbridge, pushing through the heavy glass doors,  browsing the spectacularly redolent  Food Hall, gapping at the £19 (about $31.25) half dozen oysters.  Those are the cheapies.  The expensive ones go for $50 for six.  Not trying to wow you, just reporting the truth as this pauper sees it. (followed by tears and a forced smile)

Go ahead.  Stroll though the fine jewelry room, the obscenely expensive watch emporium, and dejectedly trundle into the fine wines and spirits cellar, where Cuban cigars can run you a cool $50 for one.  Didn’t have the heart to reach out and touch the bottle of the 1951 McCallum Scotch Whiskey (£20,000 or about $33,000).  And my wife thinks I have a drinking problem.  Saw a bottle of French cognac for £30,000.  I’ll leave the math to you.  Breaks my heart to think about it.

So, what can a man and two friends do when they are of moderate means and a used candy wrapper from Harrods is a family heirloom?

Fancy a Cuppa?

Madame et Messieur, may I sooogeeest The Tea Room?  Mais, oui!  Here you may live out your fantasy of sipping a tea, while your chauffeur patiently waits by the Bentley, carefully polishing the door handles, and your bespoke tailor calls to say he will gladly hold your appointment.

Yes, Harrods’ Tea Room is the great equalizer.  A black and white decked waiter will treat you with the politeness reserved for dukes, as he attentively watches you browse the extensive menu.  

Teas of every variety

“May I suggest….” He begins. 

“Suggest away, my good man.  I have no more clue than a nun on a blind date.”

Black tea.  Green tea.  White tea.  All from the far flung regions of the former empire. After all, this is Harrods.  Hard to believe this nonpareil department store, with 330 departments began as a simple grocer, blossomed to hugeness, went public and was purchased by The Fayed Brothers (Egyptian) in 1984 (£615 million) and sold to the current owner, Qatar Holdings in 2010 (£1.5 billion).  No wonder the Harrods motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique – All Things for All People, Everywhere.  This giant occupies 5 acres and has over a million square feet of selling space.

Quick bar bet winner:  On average, who purchases the most from Harrods??? The average spent by a Chinese shopper is three times greater than that spent by shoppers of any other nationality.

Without getting too political, my wife, a school teacher, bought a beautiful top coat here in the early 1980s, but that was when the dollar was king, making Harrods prices reasonable.

Back to tea.  £5 for a pot of your choice.  We ordered a green, a black, and a white, although one pot would have easily served the three of us.  Plus crumpets. 

With loose tea (far more flavorful) one needs a strainer.

A true English crumpet

Anyway, what are crumpets?  In the former North American colonies, we call them English muffins. The ones in Harrods however are not laced with enough preservatives to compete with Egyptian mummies.  Nope.  These are fresh off the grill, with a dark brown, toasty bottom, and lots of little bubbly dimples on top.  Succulently chewy. Of course, they come accompanied with churnery butter and tiny jars of jam.

How was the tea?  The white had the best nose, with floral accents enough to make you escape with your true love to the garden and propose on bended knee.  The green offered milder flavor, but with a certain serenity on the tongue.  The black, an Assam, had almost no nose, but the full and intriguing flavor ruled the day.

The bill came to something in the neighborhood of £20-25.  Can’t remember exactly.  Too busy considering how I could unsay all those things I said in the garden.

Harrods.  A shopping experience like no other in the world, in the largest and most complete store in the world.  Where money disappears like a spring snowfall.  But, where in the quite solace of a corner of The Tea Room, you can become one with the nobility.  And, yes, no doubt I will be back.

The National Portrait Gallery London - More Than A Museum

Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square:  the heart of cultural London

The National Portrait Gallery just steps away from Leicester

                                                   The National Portrait Gallery – London

You might call Leicester Square the epicenter of cultural London.  Sure, there are bunches more museums scattered throughout the city, but even the world famous British Museum is within walking distance, although I’d probably take the tube.

Discount ticket offices are right in the square and theaters are scattered on every side. Even Covent Garden is almost as close from Leicester tube as it is from the Covent Garden tube.  Trafalgar Square is right down the street, as is the world famous church, St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Admiral Lord Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square - Just down the street from Leicester Square

But, let’s get back to museums:  The National Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery, The Transport Museum, The British Optical Association Museum, and even The Cartoon Museum.  The list goes on for pages

Sorry folks.  Ya just can’t do ‘em all in one afternoon, or one lifetime.  Gotta pick and choose.  This time I chose The National Portrait Gallery.  Why?  Never been there, but I knew I’d be impressed and inspired.  There’s so much more to a museum experience than just staring at pictures.

To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, when asked what he did for inspiration, the great writer said, ‘I go look at a few canvases.’ I know what he meant.  There’s a commonality in all forms of art.  Art connects us as humans, whether it’s ballet, pottery, or cake decorating.

So, off I trotted to The N.P.G. to reconnect.  What I found amazed me, as art museums often do.  Did you know that Bob Dylan does portraits?  I didn’t.  Impressive.  How about a high tech portrait that changes colors?

portrait of zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born architect of the London 2012 Olympic Aquatics Centre, by Michael Craig-Martin

And how about the spacing, lighting, color, and display of art works?  Fascinating. Comes in handy when you decorate your home.  Clutter annoys us.  Space, indirect light, and temperate colors soothe.

Bob Dylan's black and white portraits.  Note the contrasting neutral walls and ceiling and the indirect lighting.

More space and shadows and indirect light.

Art is also a study in history and I don’t necessarily mean ‘art history.’  Portraits reflect, not only famous faces, but dress, hair styles, that offer a glimpse into the soul.  Stern and domineering, or friendly and approachable?  A portrait piques my curiosity.  Makes me want to know more about people, their lives, and times.  The labels beside the paintings offer tidbits of information.  Slowly, the pieces start to mean something.  I find myself pondering and grabbing books.

Mary Queen of Scots by Nicholas Hilliard

William Shakespheare, attributed to John Taylor, circa 1600

Early English Kings

Sir Winston Churchill 1916, when he was 42 years old, by Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen

Even if you don’t particularly care for art in general, or portraits in particular, take a break from pubbing and the theater to give The National Portrait Gallery an hour of your time.  Hey, you’re in Leicester Square, the London home to all things cultural!

Room to sit, time to ponder and read.

But, enough is enough.  Time to pull another pint.