The Best Winter Pop-Ups To Visit This Month
Real Snow at Covent Garden Piazza
Covent Garden’s shops and restaurants reopened on 2nd December, alongside a series of festive al fresco experiences and a Christmas light display. For the first time ever, snow will fall over the West Piazza in front of Covent Garden’s 60ft British-grown Christmas tree. Created to be entirely sustainable, the snow will fall in front of the tree which will be decorated with 30,000 lights, while 115,000 additional lights will decorate the streets. As well as a Lego pop-up for children, from 10th-13th December, Covent Garden also will be host to London’s first mulled wine festival – The Winter Warm Up – with festive pop-up stalls serving one-off takes on mulled wine and hot toddies. After something to eat? Look for the likes of Laduree, Sticks’n’Sushi, Frenchie, Petersham Nurseries' La Goccia and Buns & Buns.
Covent Garden, WC2E 9DD; from 2nd December
Visit CoventGarden.London
Kerb at Seven Dials Market
This Christmas, Seven Dials Market aims to be a one-stop shop when it comes to food, drinks, Christmas shopping and entertainment. Across December, there’ll be bottomless brunches, socially distanced meet-and-greets with Santa, live music and carol performances, fondue and wine nights with The Cheese Bar, and a new festive food and cocktail menu from Kerb’s street food traders. The Pop-Up Club will also be setting up on Cucumber Alley, bringing lots of independent makers and artisan creators to the market so guests can pick up presents while they dine. And after a successful summer of acoustic music, Christmas Unplugged will return to the market. Twice-weekly live performances will take place from 12-4pm every Thursday and Saturday. Across the experience, temperature checks, track and trace, lower capacity, distanced seating, hand sanitation stations, digital ordering and table service will all be in place.
Earlham Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9LX
Visit SevenDialsMarket.com
The Ivy West Street
The Ivy West Street is celebrating the festive season with a showstopping Christmas installation for guests and passers-by to enjoy, as well as a limited-edition cocktail menu created in collaboration with Ramsbury Single Estate Spirits. Seasonal cocktails will include the ‘Noél 75’, featuring Ramsbury Single Estate Gin, Pineau des Charentes, raspberry, cardamon and verjus, topped with champagne; the ‘Chestnuts Roasting’, with Ramsbury Single Estate Vodka, Guinness, chestnut and espresso; and the ‘Sleigh Bells Slingin’, with Ramsbury Single Estate Gin, Calavado aperitif, chestnut, verjus, pine and ginger ale. Guests will also be able to tuck into much-loved classics such as The Ivy shepherd’s pie, dressed Dorset crab and bang bang chicken. This year, The Ivy will also be offering something extra special: a complimentary calligrapher will be at the restaurant on 5th December, personalising guests’ Christmas cards.
1-5 West Street, West End, WC2H 9NQ
Visit The-Ivy.co.uk
Miracle at Henrietta Hotel
Experimental Group is bringing its Miracle pop-up bar phenomenon from the US to London for the third time. The Christmas-themed pop-up bar, renowned across America for its creative cocktails garnished with a side of kitsch, will be hosted on Henrietta Hotel’s mezzanine from early December until 23rd December, providing the perfect pitstop for a cocktail in Covent Garden. New creations on offer will include the ‘Fruitcake Flip’ (brandy, Jamaican overproof rum, amaretto, fruitcake, cherry bitters and whole egg) and ‘Jolly Koala’ (gin, vermouth and pine-cardamom-sage cordial), all served in fun and festive glassware.
15 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 8Q
Visit HenriettaHotel.com
Pomellato X Shreeji News
Italian jeweller Pomellato is taking over Shreeji News in Marylebone for the festive period. The Chiltern Street newsagent – opposite Berners’ Tavern – will be offering customers a slice of Italy’s best panettone accompanied by a double espresso – perfect for anyone needing a pick-me-up while shopping in the West End. Established in 1982 and reimagined in 2020, the newsagent and tobacconist has recently undergone a dramatic refurbishment by husband-and-wife design duo Gabriel Chipperfield and Laura de Gunzburg. The couple partnered with Shreeji’s owner Sandeep Garg to transform the space into one that is a far cry from your traditional newsagent. Now, for the festive period, customers can pick up their morning coffee in an illustrated Pomellato cup and take away a copy of the newest edition of Pomellato magazine.
6 Chiltern Street, Marylebone, W1U 7PT
Visit Pomellato.com
Winter at The Garden at The Berkeley
As The Berkeley reopens its doors, the hotel has revealed a new festive addition: Winter at The Garden. Following the summer sell-out success of the garden – and now reimagined for the winter months – the terrace will consist of five heated wooden cabins, each seating up to six diners. These cabins will be decked with candlelight and wreaths courtesy of McQueens and surrounded by a forest of fir trees and fairy lights. A menu of alpine specialties includes fondue and toasted sourdough; a trio of rostis with different toppings; and smoked beef hot dog sliders topped with sauerkraut, jalapeño and smoked cheddar. The flambéed baked alaska is set to be a standout dish and will feature three different flavours of ice cream – chocolate, orange and macadamia. Finally, the team will be on hand to serve hot chocolate tableside – think Valrhona chocolate mixed with a generous glug of either rum or whisky.
Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, SW1X 7RL
Visit The-Berkeley.co.uk
Dalloway Terrace
Dalloway Terrace has been transformed by McQueens Flowers into a natural winter forest filled with white birch trees, spruce blue pine, dried Amaranthus ‘icicles’, thistles, sprays of silver bracken and snow dusted foliage. To match its new look, a new selection of cocktails has been created in collaboration with Belvedere vodka. With names inspired by chat-up lines about the cold weather, each cocktail is priced at £15 and includes ‘I Lost My Scarf, Can I Wrap You Around Me Instead’, a winter-warming blend of Belvedere Vodka, Amer Picon, Velvet salted caramel and Thomas Henry coffee tonic; and ‘I Didn’t Think I Was A Snowman, But You Just Made My Heart Melt’, a fruity mix of Belvedere vodka, Mancino rosso chinotto and blackberry Guinness, garnished with frozen winter berries. Seasonally inspired additions to the menu include gruyere fondue, using cheese from London cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield, served with toasted rosemary focaccia, pickles and potatoes; and roast loin of venison with braised red cabbage, celeriac mash and madeira jus. Afternoon tea will also be served with some new twists, including a Belvedere vodka and lemon cake with vanilla scones.
16-22 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, WC1B 3NN
Visit DallowayTerrace.com
All I Want For Christmas Is… Joy
This December, Joy Bomb London – a project by artist Amy Broch – invites Londoners to a pop-up art installation on Brook Street. ‘All I Want For Christmas Is… Joy’ complies with social distancing measures while offering guests the chance to experience a multi-sensory art installation exploding with Christmas spirit. Drawing inspiration from childhood nostalgia and pop culture, the pop-up encourages the public to connect and enjoy a little silliness. The installation itself can be viewed from the street at all hours, while on Friday and Saturdays, live actors will bring the installation to life, engaging with the public at a safe distance of two metres.
48 Brook Street, Mayfair, W1K 5DR
Visit JoyBombLondon.com
Christmas Market on the Mews at Selfridges
Selfridges is celebrating reopening for the festive period with the launch of an outdoor Christmas Market. Selfridges’ first market includes a showcase of London’s best street food traders, with a line-up curated by founder of Street Feast, Dominic Cools-Lartigue. A total of nine food trucks and stalls will line Edward Mews, offering seasonal food and drink, from mulled wine and buttered rum to Venezuelan cuisine, North Indian street food and Christmas market staple bratwurst hot dogs. Ensuring a seasonal atmosphere, family friendly fairground rides will keep visitors entertained, along with a tunnel of light for all-important festive selfies. A host of stalls will help customers to get ready for the holiday season with real Christmas trees, wreaths, decorations and hand-picked gifts and toys. The Christmas Market on the Mews will be open daily throughout December, from 4-9pm on weekdays and 12-9pm at weekends.
400 Oxford Street, Marylebone, W1A 1AB
Visit Selfridges.com
The Tramshed Project
The Tramshed Project is inviting guests to get into the Christmas spirit with live jazz nights, supper clubs and a festive menu from renowned chef Andrew Clarke. Designed with Covid-19 guidelines and social distancing firmly in mind, the events are all part of the venue’s mission to offer a safe and inclusive home away from home this Christmas. Saturday 19th December will see the Tramshed Project Christmas Party take place, where Clarke will be cooking with celebrated chef James Cochran. The owner of 12:51 restaurant will greet guests in the venue’s 40-seater Library, serving up the kind of dishes that saw him crowned the Great British Menu’s ‘Champion of Champions’ in 2018. And having launched in October, Black Flamingo Fridays will continue throughout December, as a weekly series of jazz nights featuring celebrated musicians like Noel McCalla, Gina Foster and Bobby Q.
32 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 3LX
Visit TramshedProject.com
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