Welcome to Pavilion Road

Chelsea is home to numerous international luxury brands, but in 2015, a new shopping destination opened in the neighbourhood, offering something different. For a largely residential area, Sloane Square lacked many independent shops, especially artisan food and drink outlets. But, given the growing demand for people to buy local, Pavilion Road was created to give the neighbourhood a new village high street

The original road was a long mews street running from Sloane Square to Knightsbridge. In 2015, the lower section of this road was pedestrianised for the two blocks north of the square, and the Cadogan property company that owns the Chelsea Estate built a series of shopping units. Then they started looking for tenants, taking their time to find the right retailers, and helping them with the upgrade to a prime Chelsea address.

Seven years later, you leave behind the traffic of Sloane Square and enter a little village, complete with butcher, baker and greengrocer, as well as tables arranged in the street for people to sit outside. Over the years, the original outlets have been joined by shops selling cheese, wine and fish, as well as a few boutique brands and some select restaurants. Five of our favourites are listed below.

Bread Ahead started life at Borough Market in 2013, with a baking school that opened the following year. The Pavilion Road venue not only offers a wide range of bread, sandwiches, and filled doughnuts, but also provides workshops to teach basic baking skills. So, if you want to learn how to make New York bagels, French pastries, Scandinavian buns or English biscuits, you can attend a half-day class to master the necessary skills.

London Cheesemongers began as a stall, trading at various London markets. Since moving to Pavilion Road, they stock a range of thirty different cheeses, which often change depending on the quality or the season. They also sell selection boxes, with a carefully chosen range of French, English, Italian and mountain cheeses, making a perfect present. What’s more, customers are welcome to try before they buy if they want to taste something a bit more unusual.

‘Every village needs a good butcher at its heart.’ That’s the motto of Tom Gibson, owner of Provenance Butchers. True to their name, they work with family-run British farms and only stock meat grass-fed, free-range animals – confident you can taste the difference. In addition, they source Wagyu beef from New Zealand and Iberico pork from Spain, for those specialities that can’t be found closer to home.

Named after Iris Murdoch’s Booker-Prize-winning novel, this is a shop, bar and restaurant, all in one. During the day they sell fresh fish caught from British waters in the last twenty-four hours using low-impact methods. At mealtimes, the seafood bar and covered terrace open up, serving a menu of small plates with plenty of raw and cured fish options, often paired with natural wines and craft beers. And, while it’s not the biggest space, The Sea, The Sea also deliver to addresses across London.