The London scene has no shortages of ‘it’ restaurants, bars and members clubs – you know the ones – which may be star-studded and media packed, but have never really matched the glamour, decadence or mischief of the grande dames of London, specifically The Groucho, Annabel’s and The Ivy. And now, thanks to some new developments, the old ones are feeling new again.
We start with Annabel’s. Its documentary last year, Annabel’s: a string of naked lightbulbs, an ode to the paparazzi-proof member‘s club’s 50th birthday, reminded us all of its place at the top, with a behind-the-scenes peek at the den of London’s crème with candid interviews (Naomi Campbell, Lady Gaga, Goldie Hawn…) and throwback footage. But forget the film, the preview screening lifted the curtain on the club’s debauchery: Grace Jones spanking Kate Moss, Kate Moss kissing Harry Styles… only at Annabel‘s.
Next, The Groucho Club, the bourgeois bohemian members’ club, re-opened in February after a 30th birthday facelift. But don’t judge a book by its cover. Although it has a shiny new bar and ‘library’, a new-look dining room and Soho bar, the club, we’re assured, is ‘set for the next 30 years of (ab)use’… with all the regular gatekeepers (Bernie on the door, Kent on the floor, Rod on the piano). And, just like that, Soho is right again.
The big news last week? The Ivy relaunch. Yes, Caring may have opened other branches during the old gal’s facelift (The Ivy Market Grill and The Ivy Chelsea), but none can really compare. Always the go-to for old-school sophistication, the multi-million refurb has now made it as “glamorous as its diners”.
London: a case of ‘in with the old out with the new’? We think so.
