If you are a loyal follower of RPS’ Instagram (guys….don’t make me say it), you probably saw yesterday that I reported London private members club Maison Estelle will officially reopen on November 4, following its rather dramatic six-week closure. The Financial Times confirmed over the weekend that the Mayfair members’ club had been given permission to reopen sometime in November, although getting back to business comes with some fairly significant restrictions. But I’ve been doing a little digging of my own, and there’s something in the Westminster City Council records that caught my attention. Actually, 406 things, if we’re counting pages. Yes, a 406-page file (that everyone seems to have forgotten to mention) relating to Maison Estelle’s licensing hearing has been kept from the public, with the council citing an exemption concerning criminal investigations. Oh, and there’s a separate liquor licence application filed on October 2nd while the club was shut. I’ve got questions. Oh, and I’ve also got some answers as well. Did you really expect anything less from RPS? Well, you shouldn’t.
Also in today’s letter: Truman Capote’s belongings go under the hammer, Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc gets into the board game business, the unexpected star of Daniel Humm’s dining room, Art Basel Paris’s unlikely status symbol, the strange economics of money-laundering loot, and the country club that’s turned swimming into a six-figure sport (and why we should expect more of this). After the jump!
And for paid subscribers who have been enjoying the You Can See Everything stories, I have another surprise coming on Wednesday. Get excited. (And upgrade!)
