It's official - Chiswick is hipper than Notting Hill

I.H.T. cites our enclave as London's hottest neighbourhood

A recent article in the International Herald Tribune cites Chiswick as London’s ‘hottest neighbourhood’.

In a lengthy feature written in a somewhat ‘advertorial’ tone, the IHT journalist takes her reader on a journey through the streets of Chiswick.  What transpires is that our enclave's elevation to the upper echelons of stylishness is based on the fact that hip names such as Soho House "who are creating a private club on Chiswick's picturesque main street”, Marco Pierre White (whose credentials as a chef are totally overlooked and is described as a businessman), and “celebrity chef Rick Stein who helped transform a former paper factory into Sam's Brasserie” have all recently arrived in town.

The article continues to inform its international readership that residents can find little reason to leave Chiswick considering we have a "Petit Bateau for children's clothes and Blink for women's apparel". Rather easier to comprehend is the culinary utopia of Turnham Green Terrace where Mortimer & Bennett and the Macken Brothers get a deserved mention.

Chiswick’s demographics, according the estate agents interviewed, consist of “once big-budget trendsetters in central London who moved out to Chiswick”, media types, and a whole host of celebrities. Colin Firth, Timothy Dalton, Vanessa Redgrave, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Waterman, Kate Beckinsale and Ant & Dec all get a mention.

"For the famous, Chiswick's location away from central London means it is a place for them to get away from the paparazzi," said James Azoulai of Featherstone Leigh’s Chiswick office, "And Chiswick's great because all sorts of popular bars and restaurants from Soho, Kensington, Earls Court and other areas have moved in." 

Notably out of the three agents quoted in the article as experts on the local area, two do not have offices in Chiswick.

January 14, 2006