ART, MUSIC & SOCIAL REVOLUTION Foundling Museum Private Tour & Lunch at Michelin Starred Benares

The Foundling Museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain’s first home for children who would otherwise have been abandoned – known in the eighteenth century as ‘foundlings’. The Hospital was both the UK’s first children’s charity and its first public art gallery. From 1741 when the first baby was admitted to 1954 when the last pupil was placed in foster care, the Foundling Hospital cared and educated over 25,000 children, and the Hospital continues today as the children’s charity Coram.

Instrumental in helping Coram realise his vision in 1739 were the artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel – major benefactors of the Hospital whose creative generosity paved the way for the arts community supporting philanthropy.

A museum of both art and social history, the dynamic programme of exhibitions and events celebrates the ways in which artists of all disciplines have helped improve children’s lives for over 275 years.

The Museum shows the Hospital’s remarkable art collection amongst furniture, fittings and interiors from the original eighteenth-century building. Hogarth donated the first painting to the Hospital in 1740 and then encouraged many of the leading artists of the day to do likewise, including Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds and Louis-Francois Roubiliac. Alongside the art, the Museum also houses the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, the world's largest private collection of Handel memorabilia. Visitors also get to see poignant objects and archival material that reveal life at the Hospital for the children, including the eighteenth-century ‘tokens’; everyday objects left by mothers with the babies they handed over to the Hospital’s care.

From revolutionary history to game-changing cuisine, Dabbous is the perfect setting for a four-course lunch after the private tour. Opened in 2012, the restaurant won Tatler’s “Best Restaurant” and was awarded a Michelin star within its first year of opening, which it still holds. Head Chef Ollie Dabbous has worked in a plethora of Michelin-starred kitchens, from Le Manoir to Mugaritz, The Fat Duck to Noma, and draws on his international experience to present a unique style of food to London. Lauded over by critics Jay Rayner, Fay Maschler and Giles Coren, Dabbous serves up contemporary European cuisine using the finest of British ingredients, such as a signature dish of ‘Coddled egg with smoked butter & wild mushrooms’.

Additional Information

This experience is valid for redemption within six months from the date of issue.

Opening Times This experience is available Monday to Saturday. The Foundling Museum is open 10am to 5pm; Benares is open for lunch 12pm to 2.30pm and for early dinner 5.30pm to 6.30pm

This experience is not available on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Please note menu's require a supplementary fee if booked during the festive period.

Schedule We recommend starting your tour around two and a half hours before your lunch booking. Please allow 30 to 40 minutes to walk from the Foundling Museum to Benares, or roughly 20 minutes to travel by tube.