Still groovy, baby, all these years on
IT WAS hard, but I resisted the overwhelming urge to don purple psychedelic trousers and a giant lapelled jacket with kipper tie to match.
My wife banned me from yelling “groovy” and “yeah baby, yeah” in a tribute to the swinging sixties throwback Austin Powers.
I even managed not to let a single verse of The Kinks classic Dedicated Follower of Fashion pass my lips.
I’m glad I did because within minutes of emerging from our hotel to discover the delights of London’s Carnaby Street I realised the place has shed its tatty bohemian image of half a century ago.
Oh it’s still ‘trendy’ alright, but the once scruffy streets with tat shops are now home to some of the brightest independent traders the capital has to offer.
From far out fashion to cooky ceramics, Carnaby and the grid of streets around it exceeds any marketing hype you might hear – you really can spend a day here simply browsing, people watching, eating or just enjoying a leisurely coffee over the newspaper.
Cafes, cool bars and oh so cool non-chain restaurants thrive cheek by jowl in this effervescent melting pot of style, which is worth a visit for the buzz alone.
Simply put, if you’re planning a visit to the capital and you’ve only got an afternoon, this is the place to head for – colourful, bright, interesting, diverse, fun... choose your adjective to describe the Carnaby experience.
It’s yards from the frantic human maelstrom of Oxford Street yet a million miles away in terms of charm and refinement – an oasis in the bristling, bustling mass of humanity that is London.
I left the capital 15 years ago fed up with the interminable traffic jams and grumpy, self obsessed people, but Carnaby revived my faith in my home ‘town’.
The shopkeepers were more artisan in their nature than miserable, profit-driven entrepreneurs – and far happier for it.
Take Camellia’s World Teas owner Lubna Madan, a former homeopath who packed it all in to concentrate on spreading the word about her first love – an unbeatable cuppa.
With a smile as bright as the airy sun-drenched room at the top of Kingly Court shopping centre, she enthuses about the fragrances and physiological benefits of her wares.
Every brew is served like a ritual – with the obligatory cake or pastry of course – from a menu of nearly 100 ranging from chocolate tea for the sweet toothed to leaves to tackle indigestion, eczema and even depression.
Retail therapy always ends with tea, but I’d recommend a trip to the fascinating Kingly Court to cure any melancholy ill anyway – whatever the weather.
A giant canopy rolls out above the three floor rectangular complex, which is alive with the hubbub of chat and music as retro stores and modern one-off T shirt shops show off their latest styles.
Sure there’s the usual chains outside in the street (even these are flagship stores with exclusive clobber), but short term leases in the Kingsley ensure this is the place for up and coming artists, designers and specialist storeholders – if they succeed they stay.
One most definitely succeeding is basque and party frock designer Craig Spellar whose Harriet’s Muse shop we visited as he put the finishing touches to outfits for Patsy Kensit’s Holby City outfit.
His shop, like many in and around Carnaby Street, is as much a working museum as a retail outlet – traders, unfalteringly friendly as if they’re nowhere near London, are happy to chat about their wares.
Nowhere moreso than in Cowshed – a shop at the front and a, quite frankly terrifying if you’re a bloke, pampering room at the back where girlies go for manicures, pedicures and all other ‘cures’.
I wouldn’t normally pay a tenner for shower gel, but there’s something about ambling around Carnaby with all the time in the world, that makes you want to treat yourself.
And if it’s a culinary treat you’re after then you will do no better than to visit the Benja Royal Thai restaurant in Beak Street.
Cool, stylish but extremely welcoming it’s the perfect antidote for a busy day’s shopping and offered arguably the best meal I’ve ever had.
Fresh and delicate ingredients combined to create taste explosions in my starter of satay of beef, pork and chicken served with peanuts and cucumber sauce.
The main course of green curry with fresh king prawns and thai aubergine was simply superb and because of the competition from nearby Chinatown, the prices are not prohibitive.
One or two shops in Newburgh Street, just off the main Carnaby drag, still give a nod to the old mod days of the place and are well worth a visit – along with the extravagant and avante garde independents that make the place so unique.
I managed only a quick stop in Soccer Scene, a football store which stocks everything from Aston Villa piggy banks to Walsall jockstraps (maybe not), as my wife tapped her foot, arms crossed outside.
By the end of a long day, amazingly spent in just Carnaby and its sister streets, we enjoyed a fantastic cocktail and wind-down dinner at the coolest place to be seen at in the West End, Zebrano.
Again, the prices were on a par with Birmingham’s - another surprise in this mystical, magical melting pot of styles and cultures.
* FACT BOX
Jim stayed at the Courthouse Hotel Kempinski in Great Marlborough Street at the top of Carnaby Street.
The hotel is situated in what was once the largest Magistrates Court in the land, having played host to Oscar Wilde, John Lennon and Mick Jagger.
The old Courtroom Number 1 restaurant retains all original features, as do the private drinking booths in The Bar converted from 1840s prison cells.
Prices start from around £300 per luxuriously appointed double room. To book call 0207 297 5555.
See www.visitlondon.com for details on other attractions in the capital.
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