Cusine de Bar, Poilâne >>> Cadogan Gardens, London

LWSY

Lionel Polaine, a Frenchman, grew up in the heart of Normandy. It was 1932 & his bread, hand made from his own small bakery was baked mainly to fulfil orders to the local wine bars. Fast forward all these years & here we have the trendiest bakery in London (their other bakery can be found on Elizabeth Street in Belgravia), complete with glass floor so you can watch the master bakers hard at work. For a foodstuff that was once the most staple & simple part of your diet, Polaine has certainly captured a certain market over here. Plus it’s probably the most expensive bread you could buy.

One story that is often repeated by the Polaine brand is the friendship between Mr Polaine & Salvador Dali. The surrealist artist would often commission the bakery to make bread sculptures, rumour has it he had an entire bedroom sculpted for an installation. How very Heston. The Cuisine de Bar opens early & serves all manner of tasty treats, tartines, eggs, custard tarts, cakes, plus soups & salads at lunchtime. Midweek it’s calm enough to have meetings there, but come the weekend, it’s mad crazy with buggies & French families.

LWSY

For LWSY though, the design is the highlight here. Broby DNA, a London based design firm have transformed this space on Cadogan Gardens, just opposite Peter Jones on Sloane Square. With a distinct Scandinavian feel, using furniture by Gubi & Fritz Hansen, & a bespoke circular LED pendant by Le Deun Luminiares above the communal central table.

Polaine