With thanks to Country and Townhouse, here are five things to do in London this week:

Why the pre-order model could be the future of fashion, and 7 pretty parasols for your garden

We’re free…. ! Well, sort of. The pressure cooker of full lockdown is easing though it looks like we’ll still be on the semi boil like lobsters in a pot for months to come. However, we can finally leave our homes without fear of transgression. Will you hit a local park for a BBQ (where permissible), have your friends (from one household and six maximum) for a top-end takeway in your garden? Or just choose to stay at home and hit Netflix because – finally – it’s your choice. And that’s the beauty now – we have regained a little bit of all-important autonomy.

Have a great week.

Lucy

Image: ‘Grandiflora Rose’ wallpaper design by Designers Guild

FIVE THINGS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS

The Dorchester’s Rooftop

Looking for the perfect place to celebrate the return of hospitality? We’ve got just the ticket. For the first time in its 90-year history, The Dorchester is launching a rooftop restaurant – complete with views across Hyde Park. Book your table for April now to enjoy a summertime menu from Tom Booton, plus cocktails and live music.

Platewell

Cook up a nutritious feast with Platewell, a new kind of cookery school offering regular classes online. Founded by a group of London-based cooks, the platform is all about celebrating plant-based food, with recipes designed to be accessible, delicious and healthy. Coming up this week: beetroot leaf borani with blackberries, and an asparagus risotto.

GoBoat London
From tomorrow we’re allowed to socialise outdoors in groups of six – so why not push the boat out? You can now charter an electric picnic boat from either Paddington or Kingston with GoBoat London – no need for a licence. Enjoy drinks and long-awaited catch ups with friends as you sail down the Thames.

Spring into Spring

Spring into spring (virtually) with the online wellness festival from Battersea Power Station. Hosted on the venue’s website and via IGTV, the month-long event includes spinning classes from Boom Cycle, HIIT from Be Military Fit and dynamic vinyasa with Oyogo Yoga, plus recipes and live workshops.

Isolating Together

Galleries can’t reopen until May at the earliest, but there’s plenty of outdoor art to explore in the meantime. Isolating Together, for instance, is a new photography exhibition in Camden designed to celebrate how communities have rallied together across the UK throughout the pandemic, curated by Karishma Puri.

WHAT’S KEEPING MY SPIRITS UP

Fridge Fills

So sick did I get of having to feed the family three times a day over lockdown that Detox Kitchen’s fridge fills have been a life saver this week – and now this super service is spreading beyond its London confines and delivering nationwide. Put your pasta away and get stuck into deliciously Mediterranean white bean, caper and tomato stew; aromatic prawn penang curry or comforting aubergine parmigiana – a heavenly break much needed for lockdown-fatigued cooks all over the land. Six fridge fills for £45.

Parasols

In preparation for balmy spring and summer days spent in gardens with friends, I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for beautiful parasols. Not only do they look gorgeous with their bright pops of colour (I’d go for fuchsia, canary yellow or turquoise) but I’ve finally given up the desire to sit for hours, covered in Hawaiian Tropic, face angled to the sun. Nowadays it’s all SPFs in winter and wide brimmed hats in summer in an attempt at skin preservation, although I’m probably 20 years too late.

Small Batch Pre-orders

I’m not never going to buy new clothes again – I couldn’t live without that rush of something gorgeous that you fall in love with, but there is an interesting new model gaining pace among brands who might have previously adhered to the old fashion season cycle: the pre-order. Charlotte Simone did a pre-order pivot during the pandemic, and now produces limited-run curated collections available for one week only at a time, thus almost eliminating waste. And who wouldn’t want this gorgeous gingham summer dress from Cawley Studio, made in London? Image credit: Luke Fullalove

GREEN HERO: IRENE FORTE

This week's Green Hero is Irene Forte, founder of Irene Forte Skincare. Irene left the family business Rocco Forte Hotels to launch a skincare brand that had sustainability in its DNA from the very beginning. Click here to found out more.

THIS WEEK'S MUST READS

Got a socially distanced date coming up? Here are five of the best short walks in London for dates

Ellie Smith selects the best bakers for showstopping cakes in London

Mandy Lieu, the model millionaire, is turning the Duke of Wellington’s former estate into a regenerative farm

Have Saint-Joseph wines anointed your lips yet? Drink on, says Sarah Hyde

Enter our competition here to be in with the chance of winning a Utopia bedroom makeover with Yves Delorme, comprising a sumptuous king-size duvet cover and two pillowcases, together worth over £500.

TUNE IN

This week’s Break Out Culture guest is Charles Saumarez Smith, former head of the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy of Arts. He chats to Charlotte Metcalf and Ed Vaizey about his new book, The Art Museum in Modern Times, as well as the challenges ahead for art museums.