I can’t believe Christmas is less than a week away…and I still haven’t finished my Christmas shopping! ;) I usually finish my online purchases at the start of December, but when it comes to the real shopping from the high street I always leave it till the last week!
Despite dreading shopping all year round, I love doing at least one trip to King’s Road in Chelsea before Christmas. It’s become somehow a tradition to go to Peter Jones to look at the store decorations and buy last minute gifts, then to do some window shopping in Duke of York Square and on King’s Road. Mostly just browsing as a lot of those shops are out of my budget sadly!
Like anywhere else in December, King’s Road is busy, but it’s also very pretty and I love walking around the back streets and looking at the beautiful townhouses. It’s nice and quiet compared to Oxford Street and if I need some rest from shopping I can head to Tom’s Kitchen for a nice brunch or lunch!
Tom’s Kitchen Chelsea is the informal counterpart to Chef Tom Aikens’ Michelin starred restaurant and I love the bright ground floor brasserie with open kitchen, the cozy upstairs room and their menu of classic British dishes.
I usually go there for weekend brunch (it’s best to book a few weeks in advance), but now that I am self-employed I had the time to visit for lunch during the week. Two of my high school friends from Rome were in London to do some shopping, so I suggested we meet at the restaurant. I think it’s great for tourists, as they get to try British dishes, made with good quality ingredients and cooked well, in a beautiful and elegant environment.
I was in a festive mood of course, so I wore my new ASOS Christmas jumper! I love that it’s red and Christmassy, but not silly or tacky. It’s smart enough to wear around Chelsea and for lunch at Tom’s Kitchen (or at least I thought I was dressed well for the occasion!).
After lunch I wandered through around Chelsea to take pictures of the buildings and homes, hoping not to be told off by the residents! I probably looked like a tourist myself, with the big camera and shopping bags!
Whilst I wouldn’t like living in Chelsea all year round (as I always feel a bit out of place), I love being there at this time of the year. What is your favourite London neighbourhood during Christmas?
Disclaimer: I received the Christmas jumper as a gift. All opinions are my own.
I can’t believe you are drinking alcohol! I have spoken up against alcohol for 15 years online, writing thousands of comments, tons of blogs, even a BOOK about why we shouldn’t use alcohol! Alcohol is a drug! Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right. You wouldn’t smoke pot, would you? Heaven’s no, because ‘drugs are bad” and you aren’t a drug user. But a casual booze drinker is no better than a casual pot smoker except they aren’t breaking the law! And we will NEVER get the pot smokers to understand why it’s wrong and immature to use drugs, as long as people use alcohol. People need to grow up and set an example and not use mind-altering drugs recreationally!
My old neighbourhood … king’s road is great, so relaxing (kind of). Sadly, Tom Aikens closed down last year, so now his only Chelsea outpost is indeed Tom’s Kitchen! Hopefully he will reopen soon (who knows where)
So it doesn’t even bother you that she is drinking alcohol? I saw those pictures and am so upset now.
Love this post. We live in Chelsea and I definitely felt out of place at first, but now it’s become a little village. King’s Road has everything and there’s a million cute little coffeeshops and parks everywhere :)
I love King’s Road for Christmas shopping too, much nicer than Oxford Street, not as hectic at least and with better shops – just everything one needs really. Plus I love going into Antropology and popping into Saatchi in between shopping. I’m going tomorrow, quite looking forward to it actually! x
I love browsing Anthropologie though I never buy anything there, it’s so overpriced!