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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
I spent 10 years in Bath, which is the longest I’ve lived in one place. I was born in Seoul but moved to Vancouver with my family when I was eight. I cut my teeth in fashion and beauty marketing in New York before moving to Bristol to do a masters in literature. Not long after, I took a trip to Bath, the next city over: it was a foggy day, and I remember chomping on a Bath bun – they’re very dry and not particularly delicious – and being absolutely charmed by the city. My jaw dropped when I got to the Royal Crescent and wondered who lived there. I moved here after completing my studies.
The city is elegant and timeless, and has influenced all aspects of my life and work. It’s evident in the visual language of Cereal, the magazine I founded with my partner, Rich, and in the programming and identity of Francis, the gallery I established here in 2018. I now live in LA, where I’ve opened a second gallery, but I shuttle back and forth. Hand on heart, I prefer Bath. Unlike LA, where you get in your car to drive two blocks, Bath is made to be walked around – I miss meandering and pottering.
A walk I always do without fail is from Sydney Place, where I have a flat, to Sydney Gardens – the only remaining Georgian pleasure garden in the UK, I believe – and up to Bathwick Fields, which is part of the Bath Skyline Walk. It feels like you’re deep in the countryside; in spring you can forage for wild garlic in the nearby woodland, and in the autumn get pears, quince and apples from the orchard. There’s one bench I always sit on that has the most beautiful view of the city.
What I love most about Bath is that there aren’t a lot of environmental stressors: the buildings look the same by law, so there is an underlying foundation that’s predictable and familiar. It makes me feel calm – and I’m not a calm person. My first stop is always Landrace – it’s my favourite bakery in the world, and has a lovely restaurant and wine bar upstairs. I go there for bread, pastries, breakfast and coffee – although I also get my coffee from Society Café and Colonna. Christmas begins when I’ve had my mince pie and picked up my panettone.
The handful of other restaurants I like all serve modern British food – it’s tougher to find diversity in cuisine here. The Beckford Bottle Shop & Bistro serves your typical small sharing plates. Down the road is its sister restaurant, Beckford Canteen, which is good for lunch and dinner. Walcot House is very reliable: it’s big, so you can normally get a reservation, and the quality of the food is wonderful – they always tell you the name of the farm the ingredients come from. And while I’m not a pub gal, if I ever fancy a Sunday roast I go to the Marlborough Tavern.
Bath has some of the best independent bookshops. My favourite is Topping & Company – it looks right out of a movie with rolling staircases and piles of books. They offer complimentary tea and biscuits, which I enjoy while browsing cookbooks (even though I don’t cook). I also love Persephone Books, which reprints mainly women writers, the children’s book section at Mr B’s Emporium, and Bath Old Books for anything second-hand: it’s run as a co-op and is very old-school – they offer handwritten receipts.
There are also some amazing design stores including Berdoulat and 8 Holland Street – how wonderful that there’s a guesthouse above. And I love the Atelier Ellis showroom, which is repainted every season to present its new colours. Cassandra, its founder, recently created a custom red colour for the walls of the gallery.
My flat is across the road from the stunning Holburne Museum, so I will always pop in – of course, my American friends only know it as Lady Danbury’s house in Bridgerton. I’ve really enjoyed the museum’s programme since its director Chris Stephens arrived; he’s bringing in more modern artists, such as Henry Moore and Mr Doodle, a multidisciplinary artist from Bristol.
I think if I were to go to Bath 30 years from now, it would still be the same: like any city, it changes, but it never lets go of its core truths.
