London: Luxe dessert tour

The last thing that comes to mind when it’s raining in London is to go on a guided tour, but a foodie tour it’s actually a good way to pass the time, as you almost sheltered from the rain in cafes, galleries and department stores.  Also, all the delicious food is a great distraction from a grey, damp day.

Last week I went on a luxe dessert London tour with Urban Adventures, ahead of WTM (world travel market) taking place in London this week. The meeting point was right in Piccadilly,  Eros; it is the point in between Soho and Mayfair where our tour took place.

Our guide was very enthusiastic and got our attention straightaway. I love a good story, and Lindon started by telling us how  Soho and Mayfair areas began in 1666, after the  Great Fire of London, which burned down  80 % of the city. The area was greenfields and population at the time, 360 years ago,  were bunnies!  King Charles II  decided to open up the two regions one for the super poor and one for the super rich – Needless to say, which is which, even though Soho is now almost as expensive as Mayfair right now.  Regent Street was and still is the divided point in between the areas.

The immigrants started to flock into London; that’s why we have streets names like Greek Street!  And they brought with them a lot of new produce, ingredients and opened new restaurants and cafes.  There are more theatres in square-mile in Soho than anywhere else in the world, indeed a bold statement.  The area has the highest concentration of pubs in the country too.  Soho started as the entertainment area and still very much that today.

Back in the day tomato was a luxury food and could only be bought in Berewick street! How crazy is that!?

After the intro and some interesting facts, we moved on, stop at the  Hatchard bookshop in Piccadilly, booksellers founded in the 18th century hosting regular literary events and high-profile book signings.


Afterwards, we stopped at Fortnum and Mason, the Queen’s grocer. Another interesting story of how the store started, William Fortnum funded this venture when holding a post as a footman in Queen Anne’s household, selling Queen Anne’s half used candle wax, at a profit!  After a while convinced his landlord, Hugh Mason, to partner with him. Fortnum & Mason first store was in Mason’s small shop in St James’s Market in 1707.

Fortnum and Mason glace fruit

Fortnum and Mason – Christmas window

Fortnum and Mason – Christmas Window

Many products that we buy daily started selling exclusively at Fortnum and Mason and were considered luxury items at the time like baked beans!!! As soon as they got into the mainstream, they were dropped by the store.

So many lovely goodies on sale and so many delicious luxury chocolates, biscuits and fruit glacé thought to be one of the highlights of Queen’s Christmas table.  Pity we didn’t try some of them at the store.

Lindon told us of the love story of Duque of Westminster and Coco Chanel, while we were admiring the architecture of the  Royal  Academy of Arts.

Next was the Burlington Arcade, which as it’s own police force, the beadles in traditional uniforms including top hats and frockcoats. The rules are no whistles, no run and no prams!   It’s said that this gallery is the precursor of the modern shopping mall. The wealthy and famous need covered and security while shopping.
This arcade holds some of the unique and coveted luxury stores in London, from chocolate to fragrances to jewellery.

Ladurée – selling Macarons since 1864. Nowadays they sell  15,000 macarons per day worldwide – no bad!

The next food store was Godiva  where we tried a selection of bonbons, as usual, it was delicious !

I really enjoyed this tour – a great gift for a foodie and luxury lover in London. The tour lasted over 2.5 hours.  For more info: http://www.urbanadventures.com/london-tour-luxe-london-dessert-tour

Disclosure: I was a guest of Urban Adventures and Intrepid Travel on this tour. All views are my own.

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