Fashion, Living

A Day with Club Monaco

August 14, 2014

With a brand-spanking new flagship opening its doors tomorrow on London’s Sloane Square, Club Monaco asked me to take them on a tour of some of my favourite West London spots, all of which are walking distance from the new store. Ever since it came across the pond and set-up shop in London last year, I’ve been a huge fan of Club Monaco (you might have spied me wearing bits and pieces on insta) so I’m pretty excited about this latest opening. Especially as I’ve heard rumours there’ll be an in-house florist and antique homewares on offer amongst the seriously covetable collection….

First stop on the day’s agenda was lunch at The Good Life Eatery. Whether you’re vegan, veggie, paleo, macrobiotic or just like your greens, this is the place for healthy and delicious food and juices. Just be prepared to queue on extra busy days – this joint is popular to say the least. Apparently they now deliver too which could be dangerous…

FMN x Club Monaco - 04

I opted for the classic, chilli avo on rye, while Frances went for some kind of kale goodness bowl. If you don’t finish the enormous portions, just ask for a takeaway box and they’ll happily oblige so you can polish it off at home….

And a drinkable salad to go….

After refueling, we reluctantly tore ourselves away from the healthy cakes and almond-milk lattes, for some fresh air at Chelsea Physic Garden, number two on my list for the day.

Nestled on the embankment right by the Thames, this is one of the oldest and most important apothecary gardens in the country. Founded in 1673, the garden’s location near the water means it has a microclimate that allows plants that might otherwise not survive in Britain, like lemon and olive trees for example, to flourish… Once a centre of learning for using plants and flowers in medicine, today its just a lovely place to come and feel like you’re far, far away from the chaos of London. You have to pay to get in (£10) but once in, you can enjoy it for as long as you want. It was boiling the day when we went and there were lots of loved-up couples reading in the sun, mothers and babies playing on rugs quietly, people having coffee and cake under the vine-covered terrace and plenty of enthusiastic botanists strolling round. I fall in the latter camp, obviously…

From the peace and quiet of this little oasis, it was time to take ourselves back out into the real world and onto my third and final hotspot.

We headed to Pimlico, a 10 minute walk from Sloane Square, to one of my favourite special occasion restaurants, La Poule et Pot. Like a little slice of old world Paris in London, this French restaurant is cosy, romantic and, despite its long-standing reputation, almost feels like an undiscovered secret you’ve stumbled upon. Oh and its classic French fare (and entirely French menu) is everything you want it to be; buttery green beans, melt-in-the-mouth steak tartare and escargots swimming in garlic, all served on mismatching, antique crockery. J’aime cela.

It’s not just the ladies that are being catered for; Club Monaco’s first London menswear store opens tomorrow too on Redchurch street in Shoreditch. In an East vs West playoff, Jamie has similarly charted his favourite hangouts around the new men’s store which you can check out here. Normally based behind the lens, both with me and professionally for So It Goes, but it turns out he was annoyingly natural in front of it too (damn overachievers). But we still couldn’t quite stop cringing when photographed together before we set off to opposite ends of London with CM….