St Moritz Ski Bar at The Goring.

The Goring has a long and established history, being one of the most luxurious hotels in London. With a Michelin-starred restaurant and award-winning afternoon tea, The Goring was also the place Kate Middleton chose to spend the night before her wedding to Prince William in 2011. It's also the only hotel in London that is still owned and run by the family that built it!

Having been privately owned by the same family for over 100 years, The Goring have decided to spice things up a bit this winter by opening a pop-up bar in collaboration with another iconic family-owned hotel, Badrutt’s Palace in St Moritz. The reason behind the partnership is because Jeremy Goring, the fourth member of his family to run the luxury Belgravia hotel, recently unearthed two vintage photos of his great-grandfather and grandfather on the slopes of St Moritz, and was inspired to bring their favourite skiing spot to the family’s hotel this winter.

Last week Dr J and I headed to to Belgravia to check out The Goring's St Moritz Ski Bar. It had been a while since I'd last been to The Goring, and as soon as I stepped inside the lobby I was reminded why I love London. The history and beauty of these grand old hotels that make you feel as though you're stepping back in time. 

We walked through the bar and out to the back terrace where the pop-up is located. It was all warm and cosy, with sheepskin throws, heaters, candles, and classic jazz softly playing. The atmosphere was a sort of content happiness, with groups of friends and couples sipping on cocktails and mulled wine and just enjoying the evening, the sound of laughter erupting every so often.

The award-winning barman from Badrutt Palace, Andrea Delvo, had been flown in to launch the pop-up, and he created some really exceptional cocktails for us. There are four cocktails from the Badrutt Palace on the menu, and we decided to have two each to cover all of them. I absolutely loved both of mine; the signature cocktail and the absinthe based one.

We also had a selection of canapes, some triple cooked chips, and pate with brioche bread. Everything was delicious! 

Even Dr J was impressed, and he is a very difficult one to please. Trust me on this one. At my 21st birthday he complained that not enough men were wearing tailored suits in the RAC. He's appeared a few times on the blog, but as it's been such a long time he insisted I take a 'candid' photo of him staring into the distance to include in the post...I swear he's worse than us girls at times.

We had a really lovely evening drinking delicious cocktails, eating yummy food, and having a long overdue catch up. Due to Dr J working away in Cambridge for most of the year, hardly any of us have seen him in 2015, so it was really nice to hear what he's been up to. He works in cancer research so he's a bit of an interesting one.

If you're in need of a little bit of St Moritz but can't get to the slopes, head to the St Moritz Bar at The Goring. It's festive and wonderful and a really cosy place for cocktails, mulled wine, and good bar food. There's no need to book, just show up and nab a table!