How I spent my long weekend in London

An itinerary for my Substack crew

Nov 25, 2024

Hey everyone, happy Monday. I’ve just spent a weekend in London (as the title suggests) and had a fun time and therefore felt the urge to write about it on Substack. This post will only go live on the Substack app and platform, and won’t be sent via email. I’m running a little experiment here to get to know Substack better, as I’m still new here. Right, so let’s get into it:

Thursday

It’s my first time in 2 years leaving the European Union, so I’m beyond excited to finally LEAVE! I used to think the life I have now was my end goal, but after 2 years of being stuck in the EU due to some visa issues, all I have to say is - “Europe” is overly romanticized by Americans and Brits. Grass is always greener.

4PM: One of my closest friends, Bella, picked me up from Victoria station and I am greeted by her senior chihuahua, Lily:

9:15PM: Dinner at Caviar Kaspia through Dorsia (use my code THESTANZA if you want to skip the waitlist). I wrote about it last Friday but here’s another confirmation that the food and service were both top notch. The vibe could have been a bit better, but maybe Thursdays aren’t their night. Either way, our waitress was attentive and the food was delicious.

11PM: Head to 5 Hertford Street. It’s the best night in town and has been for several years (my opinion). I ran into several old friends, classmates, colleagues and that’s why I love going. It’s the only club I’d pay for if I lived in London.

Friday

I woke up with a slight hangover considering I mixed vodka and wine the night before, but I get it together to get the newsletter sent.

12:30PM:Head to lunch at Oswald’s, Robin Birley’s other club, with some friends and Clemente Attolico, who I interviewed as a guest of The Stanza. Ironically, Clemente works for The Birley Clubs, which is owned by Richard Caring (Annabel’s). The lore behind Richard Caring and The Birley Clubs is wild.

Special menu by Tom Kitchin, who came to greet us personally. I had the scallops and turbot. Very buttery, French, delicious.

3:30PM: Meet Jamie Caring, ex CMO of Soho House and previous guest of The Stanza, for an afternoon tea in Notting Hill. We chatted about what he’s working on, and it seems that the general trend is the membership trend is poised for boom in Asia / Australia. Also, the wellness club category is piping hot. If you’re trying to get into it now, you might be a year too late.

5PM: Meet Sarah Rutson, former global buyer at Net-a-Porter and longtime fashion exec, for a drink nearby in Notting Hill. I interviewed her a couple weeks ago and her episode will be released tomorrow. We chatted about creative director musical chairs, and learning to let go and give less fucks. Can’t wait for you all to listen to our interview tomorrow.

8PM: After constant drinking in the past 24 hours, I’m ready to be horizontal. Bella and I ordered Dishoom takeaway and have a girls’ night in.

Saturday

11AM: I met with Julia Baldet, another former guest of The Stanza, and another friend I met through TikTok, Macy Hong, for a coffee at Cromwell Place Cafe. We chatted about Julia’s wellness start up - a functional beverage chain. Last summer I shared Julia’s fundraise and sourced her 2 great angel investors! Love the power of The Stanza.

12:30PM I met up with Bella and her boyfriend to head to Mayfair for an afternoon of window shopping. We hit up The Row, Alaia, Toteme, Linda Farrow, etc. We also stopped by the Gagosian, which I didn’t love but could see why this type of work was placed here.

7:30 PM: We head over to Maison Estelle for aperitivo with some of Bella’s boyfriend’s friends. I had a non-alcoholic cocktail and at this point was ~~hungry~~ starving in anticipation of Straker’s.

9PM: Finally get to Straker’s, and thanks to Dorsia I got this reservation on a short notice on a Saturday. Thank god for Dorsia! After 2 years of minimal food innovation (trust me, food in Milan truly lacks creativity), it’s almost a breath of fresh air to eat at a restaurant where the recipes are interesting and unique. I didn’t eat much on this day because I knew I wanted to try a lot of different dishes:

What we ordered between 3 people:

To start: Confit cuttle fish, cavolo nero & stracciatella flatbread, the langoustines, and the infamous mussel flatbread (the last two of which we ended up ordering again because it was that good).

First course: Tagliolini with Cornish crab. Unreal.

Second course: Grilled half chicken with a side of crispy potatoes, and roasted beet root. The chicken must have been poached with butter because it was unbelievably tender. Veggie sides were 10/10.

Overall the food reminded me a bit of Travis Lett’s Gjelina/Gjusta in LA, except with a lotttt more butter. After all, Thomas Straker is the butter guy.

My only nits about Straker’s are 1) there was no orange wine or any natural wine by the glass. I fully was expecting to have a glass of orange with this kind of food. The other thing: while our host was so kind and gracious, our waitress made it seem like any request was the biggest favor. But I guess that’s part of the appeal of these vibey type restaurants.

Sunday

6:30AM: Got up early to make it for my flight back to Milan, and reflect on the plane of all the things I have to be grateful for in Italy (like cheaper groceries)!

That was my weekend! Thanks for reading and see you all tomorrow.