Beyond the Foodhall: sitting down inside Selfridges between the shops

A store designed for staying

When Harry Gordon Selfridge opened his store on Oxford Street in 1909, his great idea was that shopping should be a pleasure rather than an errand: a day out, with places to rest, read and eat built into the plan alongside the counters. More than a century later the principle still holds. Above the main entrance the Queen of Time still presides over the pavement, the windows along the front are still a show in their own right, and inside, the store still expects you to stay for hours.

That makes its dining rooms the natural pause in a shopping afternoon together. Nobody needs to leave the building, collect a coat or find a table somewhere else. You simply stop, sit down, and pick up again when you are ready. For a companion booked for the afternoon, those pauses are often the best part of the day: the moment to compare notes, laugh at the jacket neither of you will buy, and decide what happens next.

A menu that keeps changing

One honest warning first. Selfridges changes its restaurants the way it changes its windows, with regular new openings, residencies and seasonal pop-ups, and any list of names printed here would be out of date by the next season. The store's own directory lists what is open this month.

So this note works by type rather than by name. There are four kinds of places to sit down inside the building, each suited to a different moment of the day, and between them they cover everything from a ten-minute espresso to a long lunch that turns into dinner.

Foodhall counters, for a quick perch

The Foodhall on the ground floor is one of the great food halls of London, and among the stalls are counters where you can take a stool for a plate and a glass. They are perfect for the short pause: twenty minutes, something delicious, and back to the floors.

They are also the busiest seats in the building at lunchtime and on weekends. Go mid-morning or in the late afternoon, when the counters are calmer and the staff have time to talk you through what is good. For a first meeting at the start of an afternoon, a counter in the Foodhall is lively enough to feel easy and brief enough to leave the day wide open.

Upstairs rooms, and the doors that stay open late

Away from the crowds of the ground floor, the store's sit-down restaurants are where a proper lunch happens: a table for two, a glass of wine, and the shopping bags tucked under the chairs. These rooms are markedly quieter than the floors around them, and the best time to take a table is just before noon, ahead of the lunchtime rush.

Some of the store's dining rooms have their own street entrance and keep serving after the shop floors close. They are the key to an afternoon that runs straight into dinner without a change of venue. In the warmer months the rooftop has hosted seasonal restaurants and terraces over the years, with a view across the rooftops of W1. Check the directory before you plan around either.

Pacing a shopping day together

A shopping booking works best with a loose timetable and a clear end point. A suggested shape for an afternoon that becomes an evening:

What a day among the shops costs

Three hours for £700 comfortably covers a focused afternoon with lunch. For a day that continues into dinner, the four-hour rung at £900 or a longer arrangement works better, and the shopping companion page describes how full days and weekends are arranged and priced. The rates page lists every figure, and Clementine confirms the total in writing before the day begins. Anything you buy is your own affair; her fee covers her time and company, nothing else.

Beyond the store's walls

Selfridges stands towards the Marble Arch end of Oxford Street, and the best escapes from it are all within a few minutes. East along the north side, the narrow passage into St Christopher's Place leads to courtyard tables. North, through Manchester Square, the Wallace Collection offers free galleries and a glass-roofed courtyard for tea. West, Marble Arch and Hyde Park are a five-minute walk. And if you are staying nearby, the quiet rooms one street back make the perfect base for a long day on the street.

Shopping partners from the Selection

Sonya begins every visit to Selfridges in the fragrance hall, testing three perfumes side by side and asking which of them suits the evening you have planned. Nora designs her own dresses, checks every hem and always finds a reason for champagne by four. Tina has a tailor's eye and firm views on the menswear floor, and Samanta notices the lighting, the displays and the typefaces, which turns a walk through the store into a design tour.

Sonya, Nora and Tina all belong to the toned and athletic group, and Sonya appears in the thirties window. Tell Clementine where the day begins, and she will confirm the companion, the price and the meeting point within fifteen minutes.