The editors’ selection

The only thing more troubling than snagging a booking at Mountain, chef Tomos Parry’s pretty Beak Street bolthole, is the unanimity with which the world has decided that a seat here is the best thing since sliced sourdough. If you are lucky enough to cross from the Soho hubbub into the Edwardian bones of the redbrick building, the appeal is instant: a heavy wooden door, good soundproofing and a bar hewn from English elm in a room surrounded by judicious joinery by designer Dan Preston. The flame-cooked, Basque-style fare is a continuation of Parry’s first roaring success at Brat in Shoreditch. This Soho gem has the makings of a future classic. Try the spider-crab omelette, lobster caldereta and the ensaimada with hazelnut ice cream for dessert.
mountainbeakstreet.com

It’s been 21 years since cult homewares brand Labour & Wait opened its celebrated first shop on Redchurch Street in London’s East End. The retailer, which stocks all manner of goodies from throws to candles, kitchenware and garden gear, has celebrated in style this year by opening a second London shop at 48 Dorset Street – across the road from Monocle’s London base, Midori House. Welcome to the neighbourhood.

48 Dorset St, W1U 7NE
+44 (0)20 7729 6253
labourandwait.co.uk

Ronnie Scott’s, which opened in 1959 and moved to its Frith Street venue in 1965, is still a go-to for just-so jazz and a well-muddled drink. The interiors are all dim red hues, downlighting and framed snaps of the crooners, ivory tinklers and horn-blowers who have graced its most famous of stages. There’s also something of Soho’s neon-lit past in the sign outside and the lively hum within. It’s not just about nostalgia, mind: you’ll still spy experimental troupes, brass bands and cutting-edge acts from your booth and a drinks menu that seems to beckon just one more round for the table.
ronniescotts.co.uk

Thomas Heatherwick’s addition to King’s Cross comprises two 19th-century coal stores, with their original brickwork intact, and some small elements that nod to the area’s rough-around- the-edges past. The warehouses’ gabled roofs are now joined by a colossal extension of glass and slate – the latter sourced from the same Welsh quarry that was used for the original – that soars over the courtyard below like a pair of wings. It presides over a multi- level retail space with plenty of places to eat, including Lina Stores and Granger & Co. Inside, you’ll find a bounty of great brands, from Nottingham-based clothiers Universal Works to kitchenware and cooking-utensil aficionados Kitchen Provisions and candle connoisseurs Earl of East.
kingscross.co.uk