Page 134 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023 LISBON EDITION

Story and Photos by Amy Laughinghouse

Chelsea

The London Neighborhood Where You Can Live Like a Rock Star…or a King

ew countries possess a flair sical legends like The Rolling Stones,
for pomp and pageantry quite Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix
like Great Britain. While reigned supreme in the Swinging Six-
F gilded carriages and ermine- ties.
trimmed robes are only trotted out Decades have passed, but
for the most magnificent occasions, Chelsea’s lustrous appeal has never
like the coronation of King Charles III dimmed, as I discovered years ago
or the late Queen Elizabeth’s Plat- when a friend took my husband and I
inum Jubilee, the U.K. capital’s posh- apartment hunting. We stopped for
est postcodes flaunt fabulous lunch at The Pheasantry, a multi-use
fashions, sleek supercars, and famous building on the King’s Road, where
figures in perpetuity. Eric Clapton used to live in a flat
For a glimpse of what it’s like to above a nightclub that hosted the
live like a king---or, better yet, a rock likes of Lou Reed and Queen (the
star---check out Chelsea, on the band, that is…not the monarch). This
north bank of the Thames. Its central historic hub is now also home to a
artery, the aptly named King’s Road, pizza parlor, where we encountered a
was built by Charles II in 1694 and young father struggling to lift a baby
remained the monarchy’s private stroller up the restaurant steps.
thoroughfare until 1830. In the 20th When our friend offered to help, we
century, it evolved into an epicenter found ourselves face to dimpled face
for counter-cultural cool, where mu- with…Matt Damon.

134 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2023