The Noble Rot: Not as Rotten as It Sounds
On a drizzly October evening, I slipped into Noble Rot Soho with a friend I was visiting in London. He told me he had a surprise for me. The mystery…
From Bricklayer to Eclector: Sir John Soane
Entering the Soane’s, you’re immediately engulfed by a visual tempest — a staggering accumulation of art, artifacts, and plaster casts squeezed into three adjoining London townhouses. There’s not a patch…
I Traded My ABBA Tickets for a Kitchen Table — then this show changed everything
Once a Eurovision cynic, I walked out of ABBA Voyage stunned, converted, and grateful for the wake-up call. About 49 years ago, in Tokyo, I first heard ABBA. I wasn’t…
Temple Church and the Secret Within
Way back when The Da Vinci Code was first released, I was fascinated—not least because symbols and symbology have been tenants of my mystical journey and curiosity, seeking for decades.…
Rocks Back Pages: The World’s Largest Archive of Music Journalism
lead photo: Author Elise Krentzel and Founder of Rocks Back Pages Barney Hoskyns at their HQ There was an instant camaraderie — that rare, unspoken recognition between two people who’ve…
Symbols, Secrets & the Builders of Light: Inside the World of the Freemasons
I’ve always been drawn to the hidden language behind the visible — the carved sign above a doorway, the ceremony that marks a passage from one state of being to…
JANE AUSTEN: 250 years
December 16 will mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen in 1775, whose novels have become so foundational that she is now often regarded in the same…
Jugemu – The Limitless Life of Sushi
In a Soho alleyway close to the massage parlors and other establishments of ill repute and hidden behind an inconspicuous door sits a small rustic Japanese sushi (and more) Michelin-starred…
The Seashell of Lisson Grove
As part of the ongoing London travel series, today’s feature is something anyone visiting the U.K. cannot miss: fish and chips. Tucked away on a quiet corner in Marylebone, The…
Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London
I just returned from nine glorious days in London, a city I have always meant to live in, but didn’t. For whatever reason, life took me elsewhere on the Continent…