In the heart of London, in a residential area, there is a street that has become the coolest in the city. AND Elizabeth Street, a hidden street in the neighborhood of Belgravia, which only the English know.
The low buildings on this street, now pedestrian, formerly housed horse stables, which were later transformed into sheet metal workshops and garages. Today these two-story houses have been destroyed, rebuilt and transformed into luxury residences and along the street small neighborhood shops and restaurants have sprung up where the 'good of London' He goes shopping and spends the weekend with his family.
Each building has been beautified and made unique: there are those who have put flowers in the windows and those who have a table with colored chairs outside, those who park their bicycles and those who park their vintage Porsche.
Each of the approx. stores 300 which faces Elizabeth Street is decorated with plants and flowers, real in spring, and fabrics, when the British elite does not allow it. A riot of colors, this very particular street, frequented by beautiful people and some tourists who are only now discovering it, turns into a real open-air garden on the occasion of the annual Chelsea Flower Show that is held nearby in the month of May. .
There is the baker who prepares artisan bread with natural flours, there is the natoora fruit bowl – which supplies the best restaurants and hotels in London, such as the Como Metropolitan Hotel on Park Lane, which has an exclusive menu based on natural ingredients – which imports fruits and vegetables from southern Europe and the best markets in the world.
There are Peggy Porschen's Pastry Shop which, with its candy pink windows, looks straight from the pages of Alice in Wonderland, and has quickly become one of Most Instagrammed Places in London. There is Philip Treacy, the artisan hat shop where Lady D was served and where, today, Kate Middleton also supplies, Meghan Markle and all the ladies who participate in British social events such as Royal Ascot.
There is The Fine Cheese Company, which sells authentic Cheddar cheese, including smoked ones, and Pierre Hermé Paris, which organizes blind tastings - tastings with your eyes closed - of macarons filled with creams of all flavors. There are even them with caviar and foie gras. And then, chocolate shops, tailors, pet boutiques, jewelry stores that serve film production companies and many spaces for those nostalgic for the stores of the past.
You can stroll down Elizabeth Street on your own or go with a guided tour, like the Sweet Tooth Tours organized by Lynne, an American who lives in the neighborhood and who tells the story of each merchant. It is one of the tours offered by The Halkin London, a quiet boutique hotel ten minutes walk from here.
Belgravia is now the most expensive neighborhood in London. Here are the embassies and the best inhabited condominiums in the city. Three British prime ministers have lived here, three James Bond and several Lords. A stone's throw from busy Knightsbridge and Piccadilly Circus, Victoria Station and Oxford Circus, it is a secret corner of the British capital, a small rural town in the center of the city, which can be explored on foot or by bike. .
