The House Of Peroni

If you come out of Oxford Circus tube station, and walk north past H&M and Nike, you will turn a corner and find a row of terraced town houses.

At Number 41 is The House of Peroni. Neatly tucked in the middle of the terrace, but bursting at the seems with Italian culture.

From fashion, to film, music, art and food, this is worth a trip one evening during November!

Walking in through the flourescent entrance, we decided to work our way through the house room by room to take in everything it had to offer.
First stop, the bar on the ground floor, which is open from 12pm - 11pm. 

The drinks menu has been created by Gerry Calabrese, who is the man behind the drinks at the Hoxton Pony, and there are a range of new cocktails created especially for the house.

For us though, nothing can be a great pint of Peroni after a long-day in the office!

Which may, or may not have, gone down a little quicker than it should have done!
At the rear of the bar is a dark room, featuring moving art across 8 screens by digital artist Quayola.
Just like when you stare at the clouds, you could sit down and spot the different shapes that were created as the art moved from frame to frame.

After shape spotting and catching up on each others week, we made our way out into the hall to be met by The Blue Ribbon. 

 

Upstairs is a completely different atmosphere. If downstairs was for the artists and relaxing, then upstairs is for the fashionista's and food lovers. 
Oh, and the best part? There is a private cinema showcasing a range of films.

Hanging from the ceiling are white backdrops which sections the room out, and acts as screens for fashion films to be shown throughout the night, whilst the DJ fills the room with his latest music.
We grabbed a spot and carried on catching up, whilst staring up to see the short-films being screened.

Emilio (His real name is Joe, but we were being Italian for the evening) works at a fashion house, so was in his element when he spotted a selection of handbags by designer Simone Rainer.

Simone was studying a maths degree when he discovered fashion was his love. He dropped the degree, created his line, and the rest is history.

You could see his mind racing away as he unzipped, zipped, felt and held the bag as if it was his own.

Whilst I (now named Sebastiano) worked out that my camera wouldn't fit in any of them, so headed on through the archway towards the outside area.

Top is from Zara (Similar here), jeans from Levis, shoes from Dune and bag from Mulberry.

Earlier in the year, I told you about Street Feast over in Dalston, and on selected evenings you can find a couple of their stalls out on the roof terrace; serving up (you guessed it!) pasta and other Italian dishes, which tasted really good whilst washed down with more Peroni!

If you want to have a sit down meal, then you can in the restaurant on the ground floor. Click Here to reserve a table. 

As it was freezing outside, we ate our pasta quick and went back inside to be greeted by a new friend...

As the house is inspired by 1960's, Silvia Bergomi created a bespoke fragrance for the event.

Of course, Emilio went straight in for a smell from the bottle and gave his seal of approval.

If you love calligraphy, then make sure you don't just walk through the entrance without taking in the work by graffiti artist and graphic designer Andrea (he is also know as Riot!). 
After a few drinks, you may be stood there staring for a little longer than normal, reading all the words he had written.
Not that we did that at all...
Okay, maybe we did for quite a while- but it was so cool!

Fit to burst of Italian food, drink and culture, we made our way back out onto Portland Terrace and into the cold night. Sebastiano and Emilio were off to party!

The House of Peroni is only here for November though, so you have a couple of weeks to get yourself down there! Each week the house holds different events and film screenings, so it never stays the same.
You can find it here, and the house is open from 12pm-midnight, Monday to Friday. 

National Portrait Gallery

Strolling around London on a Sunday is always a nice way to unwind from the night out previously, or the busy week that seemed to have disappeared before it even started! Granted, the hustle and bustle with eager Christmas shoppers, and tourists taking photos of everything (and I mean everything, including the litter bins), makes you feel like it may have been better to stay at home under the duvet with some movies and snacks.

It's only when you find a quiet, relaxed space that you realise that getting out of the house wasn't such a bad idea afterall! For me and Vitor, both nursing a slight hangover, found this within the National Portrait Gallery.

With portraits dating back to the 1400's right through to the modern day, we grabbed our maps and headed into the maze of rooms and images. Gone were the crowds of Trafalgar Square, replaced with quietness and the occasional security guard ensuring you didn't take too many pictures.

The layout of the gallery allows you to travel back to the 1400's, and walk through to the modern day. With the Tudors our starting point, we slowly strolled through, imaging what it would have been like to be alive in those days whilst reading about the powers these individuals had.

Sizing up King Henry VIII. A big piece of artwork for an even bigger piece of man!

The only way to see the detail of the artwork is to follow Vitors lead and get as close as possible. It really is fascinating how intricate and precise the artist was when producing a piece.

Leading through the years and changes in clothing choices, we came to the contemporary and modern art with Diana and Joan Collins striking you as you entered the room.

Remembrance Sunday had us already thinking of the men who fell for our country. Our thoughts, however, flashed to the memories of when we heard the news about Diana, which lead to a debate on her legacy, and why I will always be #TeamDiana.





The final piece at the end of our walk through history came with the Marilyn Monroe expedition. Featuring photos, movie posters and copies of the magazines she covered, we found ourselves back in the era where she reigned supreme with her glamorous  looks and red lipstick.

Dragging ourselves away from the 50's, we made our way down to the new Taylor Wessing exhibition. This is a new expedition running from 8th November through to 17th February next year featuring 60 images from a range of photographers. Unfortunately, cameras were strictly forbidden so I couldn't get any cheeky snap shots, but they released the image of Mo Farrah so I can tease you with what we saw.

There is a little bit of nudity too, so be prepared for a few nip slips!



With that, we braced ourselves and left our Sunday getaway to emerge back on the busy London streets. Feeling refreshed and self-proclaimed professional historians, we strolled on through the West End for a bit of light shopping, before heading back to our own duvets, DVD's and snacks!

A day well spent!

The National Portrait Gallery is located on St Martins Place, just behind Trafalgar Square. You can find more details here.

The nearest underground stations are Charing Cross, Leicester Square and Embankment.

The main gallery is Free entry, and the Taylor Wessing Exhibition is £2 entry. So even if you spent all your money on those cocktails the night before, you can still enjoy a day out.