101 Star Bars (#37): Champagne Bar, St Pancras
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Your support makes all the difference.It may have taken 139 years, but this had to be what William Henry Barlow had in mind when he built the great glass train shed over St Pancras station. This much grandeur was not supposed to be enjoyed over a scalding hot instant coffee in a Styrofoam mug. Especially now they've wiped the grime off the vaulted ceiling (who knew there was daylight outside?), St Pancras should be admired at leisure with a glass of something fizzy and a salmon blini. Getting out of London on a fast-ish train north was always something to be celebrated, and often the Midland Mainline was an impromptu party as commuters shared their mini-bottles of Shiraz and visibly relaxed as they sped towards Sheffield.
Now there must be a worry among the families of the Midlands and Leeds that their loved ones may never come home. It doesn't help that the domestic ticket office is just that little bit beyond the tempting champagnery. The 96-metre bar is set alongside the Eurostar platform, laid out like a first-class buffet car with little foot heaters in the seats to keep off the chill. You half expect Celia Johnson to teeter in and order a Bath bun. But the open sandwiches and canap selections served here are more sophisticated, right down to the organic porridge with manuka honey for breakfast. At 9.30 last Monday morning, however, the commuters were sticking to fizz. Derby will be a ghost town by the end of the year.
The Champagne Bar, St Pancras International station, London NW1
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