This Soho institution, founded in 1871 by a fleeing communard, is the oldest pâtisserie in London—a place to breathe the air and feel the history, spun as fine as sugar. Michelle Wade, co-owner and manager with her sister Tania, started as a Saturday Girl in the 1970s and, after a spell at RADA, briefly ran the shop from a bedsit in Manchester while appearing on stage in The Seagull. It’s that kind of place. High life and low life drift in and out like the tides. Upstairs is an art gallery; the downstairs, once upon a time, hosted a peep show. “It’s a bit like a show, isn’t it?” Wade once told Radio 4. “The cakes are a show. The service is a show. And the show must go on.” —David Downton

David Downton is an Editor at Large at AIR MAIL