Blame 'Anglo-Saxon capitalism'. Blame Christmas. Blame the fact that my birthday is just around the corner (gifts, of course, are entirely welcome). Blame whatever you want... but tell me you don't secretly adore a touch of ostentatious glamour.

Sneaking a peek at the V&A's forthcoming display of Tsarist excess, it's hard to pay much attention to all that financial scaremongering. And then there's the new Molton Club. Yes it's another members' bar. Yes it's on the grounds of Mayfair's old 43 South Molton (and a tough location to crack at that). But this is Nick 'co-creator of the Cuckoo Club' Valentine's baby, and, well, to say no expense has been spared doesn't even come close.

A giant laser-cut peacock DJ booth; silk-clad ceilings; faux-ostrich, snake and stingray seating; mirror-edged everything else. The GM is ex-Movida, the bar manager ex-Hakkasan, the head chef ex-One Devonshire Gardens. The designers are the guys behind Inamo, and the membership committee reads like a who's who of pseudo-elitist London life.