Maison Estelle Scraps 81st Street Location Over Rooftop Ordinance, Eyes New Locations
Plus: The RPS Party Playbook
Welcome to a special weekend edition.
Today, we’re diving into one of the more interesting shifts happening in New York’s private club scene. British members club Maison Estelle has abandoned its plans for an Upper East Side townhouse after learning it wouldn’t be able to secure a liquor license if it intended to use the rooftop, a key part of the club’s London formula. In a twist I certainly wasn’t expecting, Sistina, the Italian restaurant that currently occupies the building, has decided to pursue a members club of its own in Estelle’s wake.
We’ll also do something many of you have asked for since last week: a full breakdown of the first RPS party. My inbox has been filled with questions about how I pulled it off, what worked, and, most importantly, when the next one will be. I can answer the first question today. The second is still to be determined, though I can promise it’s already in the works.
In May, RPS broke the news that Community Board 8 had initially voted to recommend a liquor license for the London private members club behind the Estelle and Celeste brands to move into a five-story townhouse at 24 East 81st Street between Madison and Fifth — home to the Italian restaurant Sistina. The full board then rejected it 29-13, with the rooftop terrace as the dealbreaker.
Now there is a new development. Maison Estelle has decided that without the rooftop, the location doesn’t work for them, and they are walking away from the application entirely. In their absence, Sistina has taken the members club idea and run with it themselves — the restaurant will expand throughout the entire building, developing its own private members club.
As for Maison Estelle, RPS hears they are still looking at Upper East Side locations, lower down now — the 60s and 70s (which RPS reported was their plan if this location did not work out). They have confirmed to multiple parties that the Hudson Valley location is still in the plans, but opening in New York City is their top priority at the moment.
Another thought that's landed in my inbox quite a bit: as more members clubs attempt to open in New York, they're running into increasing resistance from neighbors and community boards. The clubs tend to present themselves as restaurants, but many residents see them as nightlife venues by another name, and getting projects approved appears to be getting more difficult. If I had more time, this is exactly the sort of story I'd love to see reported out.
Plenty of New Yorkers celebrated the Knicks' championship at the Canyon of Heroes parade. A considerably smaller subset continued the festivities Thursday night at Chez Margaux, where Jen Rubio, Cardi B, Mark Ronson, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Adrien Brody and Georgina Chapman, Teyana Taylor, and Greta Gerwig were all spotted. If someone handed me that guest list and asked what the event was for, I would have needed at least three guesses.
A prediction of what’s to come? The AI boom has sparked a retail-investing frenzy in Taiwan and South Korea, where everyone from taxi drivers to office workers is piling into the stocks of companies that manufacture the semiconductors powering artificial intelligence. The industry’s biggest names, including Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s SK Hynix, have become so central to the AI race that jobs there now carry the sort of prestige once associated with medicine, law, or finance.
Calvin Klein‘s former East Hampton estate is back on the market for $165 million, nearly double the $85 million it sold for in 2021. The broker told The Wall Street Journal that part of the reason for listing it now is the anticipated SpaceX IPO, on the theory that a fresh crop of newly liquid billionaires may soon be in the market for an oceanfront Hamptons compound.
Have you watched Brian Williams in We’re Back! With Brian Williams yet? The first episode of his new weekly podcast on Netflix, this one with Tom Hanks, dropped Thursday. Fun fact for you: The interview was filmed at The Eighty Six, Eugene Remm's restaurant, which is about as exclusive as it gets in New York. Remm has never let outsiders in to film there. He made an exception for Tom Hanks — apparently the only time his mother, an avid Tom Hanks fan, has ever been proud of him. The idea came from Will Malnati, the head of the production team and a former restaurateur behind Willow Road and Toro, who knows Remm from his hospitality days.
Speaking of restaurants, Rochelle Canteen, one of London's most admired restaurants, spent two nights at Sailor this week as part of the restaurant's new London Calling series. Hosted by April Bloomfield, the takeover brought a bit of East London to Fort Greene. It was so fun and the food was so varied, but my favorite was probably the summer pudding. While the pop-up still isn’t there, Sailor is a must visit.
And speaking of London, I'll be back there starting next Saturday (June 26th) for six days or so. If you'll be in town, let me know what you're up to. (Wimbledon? New restaurants? I want to do everything I can fit in around my schedule). The best London plans tend to be the ones made at the last minute.
But you no longer have to fly to SW19 for a Wimbledon fix. From June 26 through June 29, Wimbledon is taking over Wollman Rink in Central Park with a full-size grass court, an exhibition featuring Andre Agassi, Caroline Wozniacki, James Blake, and Genie Bouchard, strawberries and cream, and the chance for New Yorkers to play on the court themselves before gathering to watch opening-day matches on giant screens. Entry is free after Friday's invitational, though the hospitality area remains invitation-only.
One more thing: if you opened this letter and discovered your free membership has suddenly become a paid one, that was intentional. I went through and gave roughly 200 readers who open every single letter a free week subscription. Loyalty pays off. (This one is free for everyone, regardless.)
There has been no shortage of questions about the party since it happened, which felt like reason enough to document it properly. What follows is everything — every decision, every person involved, every detail that made the night what it was. Do you get something out of this kind of content? Is it worth it to you? Let me know. I hate prattling on if no one is getting anything out of it (or if I am spoiling the magic of not knowing in someway). Sometimes it’s fun to see behind the curtain, but sometimes its better to leave the mystery just that—a mystery.
RACHEL HARRISON and The RHC TEAM
A huge thank you to Rachel Harrison and her team at RHC for making the party happen. Rachel — owner of PR Net's Agency of the Year three years in a row, and a RPS reader from the very beginning — was in London the same time I was in April, and got a front row seat to what running this newsletter actually looks like: the hours, the letters, the hundred or so reader messages a week I try to get back to personally. She decided RPS needed a party before I did. I wanted to wait until RPS was a little bigger. But she was right. Her team was wonderful from start to finish.
RACHELLE DOREEN EVENTS & EXPLORATION
I have never used an event planner before — every other event I've thrown, I just used whoever was in-house. I didn't realize how much I needed one until I had Rachelle Koser of Rachelle Doreen Events & Exploration. She spent a decade as Director of Events at Norwood, the private arts members club in New York, before founding her own firm in 2018. She has done everything from NYFW fashion shows to destination weddings, and has been producing the Boys' Club of New York's annual events at The Colony Palm Beach for three years running. She showed me more napkin options than I imagine some people see at their own weddings, kept a running ledger of every cost incurred (from AV equipment to catering to staffing), and when I decided at the last minute that we needed a television for the Knicks game, she had one secured within 36 hours. No is not in this woman's vocabulary. If I'm so lucky that she'll be available, I can't imagine doing an RPS event of this scale in the future without her. She's truly the best.
QUIET LUX
The party would not have come together the way it did without Quiet Lux, the virtual concierge service founded by Lizzy Livne, a military veteran turned venture capital professional. If you haven’t heard of it, members text or email a request and the team handles it from start to finish with no follow-up required, whether that’s tracking down a hard-to-find vintage bag, locating something you need on short notice, securing an impossible restaurant reservation, or planning an entire party or event. (There seems to be a concierge service for just about everything these days. Some specialize in impossible restaurant reservations, others in planning vacations, while firms like Quiet Lux will handle almost any request you can dream up.) They are human-first, tech-backed, and genuinely proactive in a way that most services only claim to be. Every guest went home with a complimentary task on the house. If you were there, I wouldn’t let that go to waste.
THE GUEST-LIST
The guest list was open to all paid subscribers until the RSVP cut-off — and for founding subscribers, it was open until the day of. Friends of the letter were also invited. Going forward, events will only be open to annual subscribers, not monthly, so if you’ve been on the fence about upgrading, consider this your sign. There will (hopefully) be more events this year, and events will be held in 2027 in multiple cities outside of New York.
THE MARTINI TROLLEY
One of the things I had to do for the party that I hadn’t anticipated was curate the bar — an interesting task for someone who doesn’t drink much. My first idea was a martini trolley. This started in London in April, where my favorite bars — the Connaught, Dukes — all have them, rolling right up to your table so a bartender can mix your drink in front of you. I tried to get one shipped over. I tried very hard. It turns out you cannot ship a martini trolley from London to New York in time for a party, no matter how badly you want to. (My mind is very stubborn when it comes to my party ideas and the sky is the limit, truly). Ford's Gin — a martini staple at the Connaught and at Bemelmans — was the natural next move.
It was designed by bartenders for bartenders, a true workhorse gin that works in everything. So of course that’s what we had to have. As for a bartender, Rachel is friends with Jeff Bell — owner of PDT, the East Village speakeasy that won the World’s Best Bar award and the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program, and the man now behind the cocktail program at the newly reopened Waldorf Astoria’s Peacock Alley. When Alex Turbero, the chef from Opto, saw Jeff Bell was making martinis at the party, he gushed to me how impressed he was. (Did you notice his embroidered leather RPS apron? Nice touch, right?)
THE VODKA
We also needed a vodka for those who don't drink gin, and I wanted something that felt special, and a little different. UNA Vodka — a small-batch, flower-infused spirit made with begonia, Florida orange blossom, and Madagascar vanilla flower — fit that profile. Its founder, Leticia Fernández de Mesa, is Spanish-born and spent years at Sotheby's in both New York and Madrid before founding a contemporary art auction house in Bogotá, and discovering edible flowers which eventually led her to UNA. I love Leticia’s story, and I loved the idea of serving an alcohol that is so inspired.
THE CHAMPAGNE
For the champagne toast, I wanted something special, something fun, something guests wouldn’t normally get at a party. I landed on Ace of Spades — Armand de Brignac — which guests received when they walked in and again for the toast. It’s comparable to Cristal in price; really, the only bottles more expensive are the Armand de Brignac Blanc de Blancs or select vintages. It’s not the typical champagnes you get at parties, so I felt I was giving my guests an extra ‘oomph’ by serving it, and that’s how I wanted the entire party to feel. It worked out better than I could have planned. When the Knicks won on Saturday night, reporters walking into the locker room at Frost Bank Center found empty Ace of Spades bottles scattered across the table alongside the Moët. Ace of Spades was, it turns out, very much the champagne of the Knicks championship — I liked that RPS had gotten there first, and guests knew they had it just days before.
THE TEQUILA
To round out the bar, we served Clase Azul Spirit of Champions on the rocks — a limited edition tequila released this April to honor Mexico's role as co-host of the 2026 World Cup, only 10,000 bottles made worldwide at around $2,000 a bottle, each in a hand-painted ceramic decanter. Between the Ace of Spades and the Clase Azul, the party had two of the most expensive and hard-to-find bottles you can put in front of people right now. Now, was that on-brand for RPS or what?
DIET COKE
We had a N.A cocktail on the menu, but Diet Coke—”A Carson Classic”—was also listed. I may drink a little too much of this. Consider it an inside joke (or consider it a problem I need to kick). Regardless, it only seemed appropriate. We brought cases of it in to make sure we would have enough.
THE CATERING
I first encountered Daniel Soares via Sarah Hoover’s baby shower. When we finally got coffee, I made him pinky swear I could have the first exclusive story on him, which took nearly a year and a half to actually do — a piece I eventually filed for Town & Country. Ever since, I knew I wanted to hire him for something. I just never had anything to hire him for. Until the RPS party.
Soares is a fourth-generation Balducci — his great-grandfather Louis arrived from Puglia in 1916 with a pushcart and eventually built what became the first full-scale European-style specialty market in New York City. His grandmother Grace Balducci and grandfather Joe Doria later opened Grace’s Marketplace on the Upper East Side. Daniel took that lineage and did something entirely his own with it: Alimentari Flâneur, a culinary design studio and gourmet market concept that does pop-ups, private events, and the kind of food spreads that make you want to never eat anything that wasn’t first touched by Daniel’s hands. More than a handful of people at the party asked me how to find him. If you want to reach him, email ciao@alimentariflaneur.com and put RPS PARTY in the subject line. He is a very popular man. (Side note: he also does full sit-down dinners in collaboration with Chef Jodi Moreno, another guest that evening. I will definitely be hiring them both at some point.)
THE CAVIAR
The caviar came from Golden Goat Caviar, the Miami-based brand that only selects from the top one to three percent of harvests and has had quite a year. In March they debuted the Golden Glizzy at the Miami Open — a $100 Australian Wagyu hot dog topped with 30 grams of Classic Ossetra and 24-karat edible gold flakes— which went viral and I was one of the first people to cover (but you may also remember it appearing everywhere from Forbes to the New York Times). They brought it back for F1 Miami in May. By the time it got to our party, Golden Goat was one of the most talked-about caviar brands in the country—which is exactly why I wanted it. The truffle chips we used for the caviar, advised to be the best pairing by Golden Goat’s managing partner Keith Glickman, were purchased in bulk (twenty bags) online and sent to the Alimentari Flaneur office. (Side note: if you need a last minute Father’s Day gift, I think this is the cutest idea, especially for hard-to-shop for dads).
THE GIFT BAGS
I have known Susan Biegacz at The Lede Company for years, and she has been an RPS subscriber since nearly the beginning. The second I mentioned in the newsletter that I wanted to throw a party, she offered to help with the gift bags. She sort of mentioned things along the way — Diptyque here, a Dr. Shereene Idriss item there — without ever fully revealing just how incredible those bags were going to be. I was just as surprised as you guys when I finally saw them, and I didn't even get one — they were truly guest-exclusive. The reason Summer Fridays was in there, by the way, is because Marianna Hewitt, the co-founder, was also one of my very first paid subscribers and went out of her way to make it happen. I’ve included a full look at nearly everything inside the gift-bags in the link below. And if you couldn’t attend and still want to purchase a RPS hat, I will have them on sale soon (with a discount for paid subscribers).
Heads up: this is a ShopMy link, meaning I may earn a small commission if you shop through it. I don't want to traumatize any readers who are morally against such practices, but it is the easiest way to show you everything that was in it. Everything in those epic gift-bags here.
THE MUSIC
Louis Middleton told me when I started RPS that if I ever threw a party, he wanted to play it. I held him to that. He is a pianist and entertainer who works entirely by referral, which tells you everything you need to know — you don't find Louis, Louis finds you. His client list runs from Taylor Swift to Jeff Bezos, which is about as wide a range as you can cover. When he's not doing private events in New York, London, Miami, Aspen, or Los Angeles, you can find him at Casa Cipriani, Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle, Dante, The Little Nell, The Snow Lodge in Aspen, and the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, among others. He was exactly the right energy for the room.
MY OUTFIT
As for what I wore, I gave it very little thought — I had approximately one thousand other things going on. Cait Bailey told me I needed to wear gold, so I bought something from the options she sent me a week before the party. Oddly, the dress photographed more marigold-orange than gold.
Heads up: this is a ShopMy link, meaning I may earn a small commission if you shop through it. I don’t want to traumatize any readers who are morally against such practices, but it is the easiest way to show you my outfit in its entirety. My outfit for the evening, as mentioned in the Vogue story, here.
“Are Substack Launches the New Book Parties? This Newsletter Made the Case,” VOGUE by Donna Kim
“How A High-Powered Gathering Turned Into A Knicks Watch Party,” New York Times by Dionne Searcey
“The AVENUE Party Report Card,” AVENUE by Peter Davis
“Steven Spielberg Debuts ‘Disclosure Day, Taylor Swift Supports ‘Toy Stoty 5’ and This Week’s Best Events,” The Hollywood Reporter (and aggregated by Yahoo)
“Dom Perignon and Red Lobster,” Caper by Dana Brown
“How Guerdy Abraira Watched ‘Epic’ Knicks Game Thanks to Hotel’s Clutch Move,” Miami Herald by Madeleine Marr
New York Post and California Post by Oli Coleman and Mara Siegler (print only, June 12th)