London’s ultimate shrine to bivalves can be found in the improbably magnificent entryway—formerly used by mechanics and tire changers—of one of the most unusual buildings in the city: Michelin House, the original U.K. outpost of Michelin tires, a bulbous, tiled fantasia that opened in 1911. (Bibendum is the name of the roly-poly figure known colloquially as the Michelin Man.) The late Sir Terence Conran, Britain’s panjandrum of modern design, opened Bibendum in 1987 (with Paul Hamlyn), placing Simon Hopkinson in the kitchen and thereby helping to spark London’s foodie resurgence. Bibendum was instantly declared the city’s most stylish restaurant; more than 35 years later, with Claude Bosi at the helm, it still has a decent claim to the title. We really love the street-level oyster bar, all gleaming tiles and teetering seafood towers, where you mark your selection—from Colchesters to Gillardeaux—on a chit using a pencil inscribed “I Stole This From Bibendum Oyster Bar.” It’s surely one of the most stolen items in London. —Mark Rozzo

Mark Rozzo is an Editor at Large for AIR MAIL and the author of Everybody Thought We Were Crazy: Dennis Hopper, Brooke Hayward, and 1960s Los Angeles