The Financial Times magazine How to Spend it recently interviewed Bryn Terfel on what happens in his life when he’s not being a singer. Here are some of his favourite things:
Golf club:
Sunningdale Golf Club, 45 minutes from his home in Kensington.
Lunch spot:
Odette’s in Primrose Hill, run by fellow Welshman Bryn Williams. Beef and lamb especially delicious. To Bibendum in the Fulham Road on a Sunday.
Football team:
Leeds, “Don’t ask me why!”
Cigar shop:
Davidoff in St James’s Street, where he likes “smelling and touching the cigars, looking at cutters and lighters – and probably spending quite a lot of money.”
Wine shop:
Berry Bros & Rudd, again in St James’s Street: “Undoubtedly one of my favourite London establishments.”
Snooker shop:
Parris Cues in Church Vale, “a tiny little shop with a snooker table… once Jimmy White and Tony Knowles walked in; I was so excited. They left with about 12 cues each.”
Musical:
The Book of Mormon. “I’ve seen it three times.”
Arts venues:
The Royal Opera House and London Coliseum: “I’m always going to see colleagues and friends sing or dance. Recently I was lucky enough to sit beside my friend Simon Keenlyside as his wife Zenaida Yanowsky danced Manon, which was incredibly special.”
After-theatre:
The Wolseley in Piccadilly – “Where the welcome is second to none” – or The Club at The Ivy “if I fancy a cocktail”.
Exercise:
Swimming at the David Lloyd Health Club in Kensington.
Cycling ‘pit-stop’:
The Corinthia Hotel in Whitehall Place. “It’s magnificent and serves great cocktails”.
Dinner:
Atul Kochhar’s Benares in Mayfair. “It’s an extravagant place for a curry, but they are beautifully prepared”. And on the way home, “I’ll have a sneak peek at the Bentleys at Jack Barclay, on Berkeley Square.”
Tipple:
Penderyn Whisky, a Welsh whisky brand: “Beautiful with one block of ice.”