What W1 Really Needs

Let's fact it, there is a dearth of damn fine drinking places around Oxford Street. Where on earth do you go when you find yourself in the area - perhaps after a late night shopping spree at Selfridges?

Well, just around the corner Après, at 31 Duke Street, provides the answer. The idea is simple: good quality and fine service. Yet the decor and atmosphere is sophisticated; think après ski lodge with four distinct zones. And the bartenders have made a proud boast - ask them for any drink from anywhere in the world and they will make it for you.

I didn't challenge them too much admittedly but was more than delighted with my pretty vodka cocktail as was my drinking companion with their potent white chocolate watermelon martini. The evening was balmy and we were not about to sit indoors and we welcomed the breezy street terrace. I think this is what is billed as 'the garden' which might be pushing it a bit for a very urban stretch of pavement, but lets not forget this is an alfresco area (yes, smokers, you can light up here), deep in the heart of central London. And when the weather cools, the lovely people at Après will cover you with a blanket. If that doesn't do it for you, there is also a cocktail bar, lounge and a snug.


Après Lounge Mon–Sat 5.30pm–3am
31 Duke Street, London, W1U 1LG
www.apres-london.com

Cabana Brazilian Barbecue: Tudo Bem

Cabana was a real surprise. I must admit I was a bit suspicious – after all, it is a big Brazilian restaurant slap bang in the heart of London, just a few minutes from Tottenham Court Road – how authentic could it be? Yet, within minutes of settling myself in the lovingly designed restaurant, David, one of the founders, showed me how to make a caipirinha. After numerous research trips to Brazil (I have written more guide books to Brazil than any other country), which must have involved drinking hundreds of this national cocktail, I have to admit, I have never learned how to make one.

 It is just one example of the care that has gone into Cabana. All my favourite Brazilian street food (which I tend to call bus food as it has sustained me on many long journeys through the country) is on the menu and done really well. As I tucked into delicious chicken croquettes, cheese balls and cassava chips, David told me how he was born in Rio the day the tanks rolled into the city as part of the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, declaring: 'My poor mother'.

There is a palpable love of Brazil in the place, from the decor inspired by Rio's favelas to the support the restaurant shows for the inspirational ABC Trust which works with street children and the most vulnerable young people in Brazil. As I dined on a foot long skewer of tender meat washed down with a very good Brazilian red wine from Miolo I felt a bit of real Brazil that I have rarely experienced in London.

I loved the 'Tudo Bem tales' on Cabana's website – feel good stories that demonstrate the Brazilian spirit. Here we are told a story about a bicycle customised into a mobile library which gives books to the poor and homeless in Brazil which they pass on. 'Tudo Bem' means 'everything is wonderful', and in Cabana it pretty much is.

7 Central St Giles Piazza

London, WC2H 8AD

T: 020 7632 9630

Chestnut Plaza, Montfitchet Way

Westfield Stratford City, E20 1GL

T: 0208 536 2650

www.cabana-brasil.com