- The Mayfair enclave is a popular spot with visitors from the Gulf for its mix of high-end culture and luxury experiences
The Mount Street Neighborhood is billed as “London’s most luxurious.” Fashion, food, art and design sit alongside some of the UK capital’s most storied institutions, taking up a sizeable swathe of Mayfair. But beyond its familiar names lies an area best explored on foot, with unexpected experiences tucked behind discreet façades, down basement staircases, and inside elegant Victorian buildings.
Running roughly from Park Lane in the west to Davies Street in the east, the neighborhood — a popular destination for visitors from the Gulf — forms part of the Grosvenor Estate, which owns some 300 acres of London’s finest real estate across Mayfair and Belgravia. Marketed as a unique “retail retreat and lively creative community” and centered on the eponymous Mount Street, it is distinguished by Queen Anne Revival architecture and landmarks including Scott’s Restaurant and The Connaught.
Walking from Green Park tube station, the neighborhood can be easily reached through the picturesque Mount Street Gardens, before continuing past Grosvenor Chapel on South Audley Street. It is there, diagonally across from the chapel, you’ll find The Mayfair Institute, the London home of Budapest’s luxury skincare brand Omorovicza and our first stop of the day on a recent press tour.
Omorovicza’s flagship destination, created in collaboration with the designers Tina Vaia, and Ed Milton of EJM Studio, features two treatment rooms, a cocooning relaxation area, a tiny courtyard, and a boutique. Spread across two floors and featuring a palette of copper, travertine, clay plaster, and terracotta, it offers a deeply indulgent experience.
For my partner, that experience took the form of The Andrássy Facial, a bespoke skin therapy. The 90-minute treatment combined Omorovicza’s mineral-rich products with the brand’s signature Hungarian facial massage. The result? A glowing, positively radiant partner, and a persuasive argument for making The Mayfair Institute part of any Mount Street itinerary.
Barely 50 meters away, on the corner of South Audley Street and Aldford Street, hidden at the bottom of a steep flight of basement stairs, is Farm Shop, a community-focused project created by Artfarm, the hospitality and cultural company founded by Swiss art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth. Produce for both Farm Shop and its eatery, Wine Bar, comes from Artfarm’s 1,000-acre Durslade Farm estate in Somerset and from farmers who share their passion for quality and sustainability.
For nibbles, we had black truffle salami sticks with breakfast radish and truffle mayonnaise, a truly wonderful dish elevated by the remarkable flavor and unexpectedly tender texture of the radishes. Mains were an indulgent four Somerset cheese and leek toastie and a satisfyingly generous lobster roll served with fries.
Our final stop was Fueguia 1833 on Mount Street, the London home of Julián Bedel’s Argentinian fragrance house. Opened late last year, the gallery features a wide selection of the brand’s perfumes, as well as vintage scents and essences on the first floor.
Bedel has created what he describes as a “perfume atelier,” with bespoke furniture of his own design, six guitars displayed in the window, and an immersive sound system playing his own musical compositions. It’s a heady, extravagant affair, with the scent workshops (available to a select few visitors at a time) taking attendees on a journey through the full range of aromas. Our favorites included La Patagonia, Darwin, Endeavour, Conquista, and Rin.
Our afternoon nearing an end, we headed back to Green Park, through Mount Street Gardens and the elegant, winding streets of Mayfair, before heading to our train.
