A FEW OF MONTHS AGO my colleague, Jennifer Dorn, wrote a love letter to the leafy London suburb of Chiswick (“Nearby Chiswick: Village in the City,” July 2015). I second everything Jennifer says about the grandeur of Chiswick House and the quiet welcome of Hogarth’s home. I don’t get there too often, but whenever I go I wonder why I haven’t visited for so long. I now have a reason to return: Villa di Geggiano.

Not the real villa, of course. That’s in Italy, four miles from Siena and home to the ancient Bianchi Bandinelli family. Its vineyard has been famous for its Chianti since 1725, when Niccolò Bandinelli began working with wine merchants Berry Brothers and Rudd. Berry Bros. is still going strong today, over in St. James, but the Bianchi Bandinelli family have recently decided to bring their wine to Brits on a more personal basis. Most generously, they’ve also brought a taste of fabulous Tuscan cuisine.

The English Villa di Geggiano is at the west end of Chiswick, just round the corner from Stamford Brook tube, but well worth the short trip. In summer, the secluded garden could fool you into thinking you were actually in Tuscany rather than a few feet from Chiswick High Road. In cooler seasons, the interior is an elegant fusion of Italian chic and Tuscan country house. The food is prepared from scratch using the very best ingredients and it tastes it. The pasta, made fresh every day, is sublime, and I really recommend it; but enjoy a small portion as a starter if you like fish, as chef Lazarin Kroni’s fish stew is one of the best I’ve tasted.

BACK IN TOWN, I’ve been meaning to tell you about the joys of Noel Street in Soho for some time. It’s in the heart of theaterland and Kleins has been supplying the various West End shows with gee-gaws for decades. I went recently, searching for an extra-long zipper—but had an almighty shock.

The rambling, up-and-down Aladdin’s cave of trimmings and haberdashery had finally burst into the 21st century. Gone were the dark, dusty, quaint old corners where you might find reels of pre-war ribbon or original 1960s ric-rac braid. Now it’s all bright lights, non-dangerous stairs, nowhere to hit your head—and a massive new range of exquisite trimmings: beads, braids, belts and buttons. I just wish I’d known about the yard sale when they got rid of all that old stock.

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All manner of textiles and their decoration adorn the collection of shops on Brewer Street.[/caption]

Opposite Kleins, New Trimmings is a slightly more commercial, retail-y haberdashery store, with even more beads and jewellery findings. Intersecting Brewer Street is to fabrics what Noel Street is to trimmings. Borovicks mainly supply theaters and couturiers. They do have interesting textiles you just can’t get elsewhere. Also rewarding for home crafters are The Cloth House, the Berwick St. Cloth Shop, Silk Society and Textile King; and the street market outside sells an eclectic mix of fruit, veg and offcuts of satins and stage-brights. While you’re there, complete the trip with Broadwick Silks round the corner on Broadwick St.

MORE SHOCKS CAME WHEN, after my little trip to Soho, I decided to enjoy a cuppa at Tea & Tattle, a few streets away. Astoundingly, it was closed, for a private function. I was forced around the corner to London Review Bookshop, where their cakes are fabulous and their tea perfectly presented. The tiny bookshop is one of London’s last independents and utterly absorbing, but the tea shop on street level near the British Museum can get crowded. I lucked-out with a seat, but was beaten to the last slice of orange-almond cake by the table next to me who finished the lot.

MANY PEOPLE FIND THE BARBICAN COMPLEX, er, complex. It’s easy to see why. Opened in 1972 by Her Majesty the Queen, it was a daringly modern design on many levels and its labyrinthine form was supposed to be comforting. Instead, it was baffling; the yellow lines on the ground intended to help visitors find their way around were about as much use as a trail of breadcrumbs. Still, there are things worth seeing. The Museum of London, for example, is one of the city’s finest, as is the Barbican Theatre. The cinema and art gallery are world-class, and there’s even a secret winter garden of tropical plants high up in the complex—secret because no one can find it.

Recently I’ve been using the superb Barbican library for research and, finally I’ve cracked the code to get around. First, don’t even try to get anywhere at street level. There are numerous escalators to the high-level. Once on high walk, meticulously follow the signs. The Museum of London is in a separate area to all the other arts establishments and has its own sign. Everything else will be under the catch-all Barbican Centre, with a multicolored blob of a logo.

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SANDRA LAWRENCE

SANDRA LAWRENCE

A walking tour learns about historic Christ Church, Greyfriars.[/caption]

There is some superb theatre and art going on at the Barbican — at the time of writing Benedict Cumberbatch was sending teenage girls crazy with his Hamlet — but allow time to get there, and above all, don’t panic.

FINALLY, MAKE YOUR WAY toward St. Paul’s Cathedral along King Edward Street to one of the prettiest little gardens in the Square Mile. Once Christ Church, Greyfriars, the Christopher Wren parish church was reduced to a tower and two walls in World War II. Turned into a fabulous rose garden in the 1980s, it’s a charming place to catch your breath and wish, just for a moment, you were the lucky Rapunzel that gets to live in the new apartment up in the tower. The old churchyard the other side is now a shady green. Sit awhile, and smell the roses twining effortlessly along graceful ropes around the perimeter.

Do join me online every month at www.britishheritage.com, where I’ll surely let you know what’s coming up in town that’s caught my eye, and a few handy tips for making the most of your coming trip to the capital.