This one’s for the creatives and the foodies; the entrepreneurs and the artisans; the thinkers and the doers.
Nestled between leafy, Edwardian Bloomsbury and historic Holborn, Sicilian Avenue offers a hidden opportunity to kick back, contemplate and indulge the senses. Now lovingly restored, this quirky Edwardian snapshot of the city’s past offers an intriguing glimpse into its future as Bloomsbury’s high quality dining and socialising destination. So here are a few lesser-known things about this whimsical oddity
1. It’s Not Really Sicilian
The Avenue’s original architect, R. J. Worley, intended his creation to be a Mediterranean-style escape from the cacophony of the metropolis. Yet despite the name, most of the Avenue’s architecture isn’t particularly Sicilian; it’s more an Edwardian English gentleman’s interpretation of Sicily.
2. It doubles as a film set
In the 21st century, the Avenue has found itself moonlighting as a movie location, with films like 2018’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and 2017’s Wonder Woman capitalising on its historic Edwardian shop fronts and atmosphere. The Avenue is, in other words, more Instagrammable than a basket of kittens.
3. It’s strategically located
As well as its own charms, Sicilian Avenue offers the perfect base from which to explore Bloomsbury, London’s intellectual and literary centre. Being just a 90-second stroll from Holborn Station and a six-minute amble from the British Museum, which draws half a million visitors a month, Bloomsbury’s position between the City of London and Westminster makes it a focal point for business leaders, diplomats and scholars from around the world.
4. It’s a prototype for walkability
In the 19th century, as London prospered, top architects like James Burton and Thomas Cubitt began thinking about what made a city worth living in. They planned the airy Georgian streets and gardens that came to characterise the district, making it practically a prototype for the walkable cities of today.
5. It has a literary and artistic pedigree
That’s one of the reasons the district became the home of the Bloomsbury group, an association of thinkers and artists that left an indelible mark on culture and learning. With its base at the home of Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell at 46 Gordon Square, the group boasted among its number literary greats such as E. M. Forster, philosopher Bertrand Russell and economist John Maynard Keynes. Synonymous with bold ideas and ferocious wit, the group’s legacy of radical creativity lives on in Bloomsbury’s seats of learning and green, open spaces, setting it apart from its more buttoned-up neighbours.
With Bloomsbury offering the cultural backdrop for meetings of minds, Sicilian Avenue takes its place as the perfect environment to generate inspiration. Refreshed for a creative, 21st century clientele searching for something a little bit different and a lot more stimulating, it’s a place that has no qualms about mixing business with pleasure.