Fiena

Italian restaurant near the Foundling MuseumFiena on Judd Street

4 min readBy Fiena

On the north side of Brunswick Square, the Foundling Museum tells one of London's most moving stories: the home that took in children at risk of abandonment, and the artists and musicians who helped it. The museum is at 40 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ, and Fiena, our family-run Italian cafe, bar and restaurant at 4 Medway Court, Judd Street, London WC1H 9QX, is only about 380 metres away, roughly a 5-minute walk.

In this story

Britain's first children's charity
Planning your visit
The walk
Breakfast before, lunch after

Britain's first children's charity

The Foundling Hospital was established in 1739 by the philanthropist and sea captain Thomas Coram, after 17 years of campaigning, when King George II granted him a royal charter. It was Britain's first home for children at risk of abandonment. The artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel are central to its story. Artists including Hogarth, Gainsborough and Reynolds donated paintings to raise support, effectively making the hospital the UK's first public art gallery, and Handel left it a fair copy of his Messiah.

The original hospital buildings were torn down in the 1920s, and between 1935 and 1937 a new headquarters was built at 40 Brunswick Square, incorporating features and Rococo interiors from the old building. Today it's the museum. Among the most moving objects are the tokens, coins, buttons, jewellery and poems, left by mothers with their babies so they could be matched if they ever returned. The Court Room is one of the best surviving Rococo interiors in London, and the top floor holds the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, with armchairs that play Handel's music. Background from Wikipedia's pages on the Foundling Museum and the Foundling Hospital.

Planning your visit

The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 17:00, and Sunday, 11:00 to 17:00, and closed on Mondays. An adult ticket is £14.50, or £13.50 online, and visitors aged 21 and under go free; a ticket also gives you free entry for a year. On now are Voices in the Room, until 1 November 2026, and 300 Years of the 'Rival Queens': Handel's 1726 Opera Season, until 25 October. Coming next is Where We Grow: nature, nurture & childhood, from 17 November 2026 to 18 April 2027. A few changes to note: the museum closes from 12:00 on 31 October and from 16:00 on 5 November, and the cloakroom is closed, so it's best not to bring large bags. Check the Foundling Museum visit page before you go.

The walk

From the museum, head west along Brunswick Square, then turn right into Hunter Street, which becomes Judd Street. Keep going north and you'll see our terrace and outdoor tables at 4 Medway Court. It's about 380 metres, around 5 minutes on foot (route from OpenStreetMap). With children? Coram's Fields, the seven-acre park on the site of the old Foundling Hospital, is right next to Brunswick Square, with a playground, sand pits and a pets corner. Adults can only go in with a child. More on Wikipedia's Coram's Fields page.

Breakfast before, lunch after

The museum doesn't have a café of its own, so we're an easy stop either side of your visit. We open at 08:00 every day, with breakfast until 14:00. On our breakfast menu: the Fiena English breakfast, the Classic Benedict, Poached eggs on avocado, Granola bowls with Greek yoghurt and seasonal fruit, and the Tiramisu French toast, with a full coffee list and daily squeezed juices. See our posts on breakfast until 2pm and Tiramisu French toast.

Breakfast at Fiena on green marble: an egg skillet, a granola and fruit bowl, eggs Benedict and fresh orange juice

Tina came with her family: 2 brunch dishes as well as French toast split between 2 adults and 2 children was perfect. (Tina, Google review) And Maria wrote, My son and I are having an extended late breakfast here (Maria, Google review).

From midday, our main menu takes over with pizzas like the Margherita and Capricciosa, pasta from spaghetti carbonara to Linguine Fiena, risotto, grills and fish, then tiramisu or three scoops of gelato. Families are welcome, and our post on family-friendly dining has tips. For more nearby, see our posts on the Charles Dickens Museum, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Russell Square and Bloomsbury.