TO LONDON WITH LOVE

London moves in a way that gets inside you. There’s an energy to it I’ve never quite felt anywhere else. [Having grown up in Maryland, in the US] as a child, London felt almost mythical.

What I love most, though, is seeing myself reflected in the people. The diverse Black cultures that built and shaped London – that means everything to me.

On my most recent trip I discovered a little Italian restaurant called Il Vicolo. It’s a short walk from Corinthia London, in Crown Passage, St James’s, a tiny little alley [the name Il Vicolo actually means “the alley”]. The atmosphere is completely unpretentious and the food stops you in your tracks.

I ventured in because I had been told its story and was moved by it – it was founded by Giacomo, a man from Calabria in Italy. Upon his recent untimely death, his three daughters came together to carry the restaurant forward with love. That love is in every bite. It’s exactly the kind of discovery that makes London so rewarding: its people and their stories.

I love Notting Hill and Portobello Road. There’s nowhere quite like it on a weekend morning. The colour, the stalls, the people-watching…

There’s Happy Donuts for a vegan donut, then One of a Kind Archive, Jefferson Ihenacho’s legendary vintage store. Jeff moved to London from Nigeria and the items in here have dressed Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Madonna – it’s a true Aladdin’s cave of archival fashion with over 5,000 pieces.

The fact that it’s Black-owned and sits right in the heart of Portobello Road feels exactly right. And it’s a small world – Jeff is the cousin of a dear friend of mine who runs his own beautiful vintage shop, The Original Pattern, in Hackney.

There is nowhere quite like the West End when you’re watching someone fall in love with theatre for the first time. I took my daughter to see The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre and the look on her face told me everything. The city is magical when you’re seeing it through a child’s eyes.

Brixton Market is a love letter to Black British culture. The food, the music, the energy – I feel at home there.

Round Table Books is an independent, Black-owned bookshop centred on diverse voices and characters. I never leave without something under my arm.

Walking along the Thames by the Embankment at dusk, as the city lights up, is one of those simple things that never gets old. London looks like it knows exactly what it’s doing from there.

Corinthia London makes me feel held. The moment you walk in, the city stays outside and something else takes over.

There’s a warmth to Corinthia London I didn’t expect from a hotel of its scale and grandeur. The staff remember you. Not in a rehearsed way, but in a way that feels real.

For me, staying there isn’t just a treat, it’s become part of how I experience London. It is the centre of it all.