Dear Member,
Happy New Year to you all! We are thrilled to welcome you back to yet another year here at the club and look forward to a very exciting year ahead. Whilst the committee likes to keep most of our projects (and their unmanned spending) under wraps, we’re excited to be able to share a few up-and-coming things with our members in this issue. We’d also like to share a few of our film and TV picks to get you through the January Blues, as well as introduce our latest contributor, who is here to give our members the skinny on London’s most overbooked restaurants and bars. However, it wouldn’t be a New Year’s issue without a few New Year’s resolutions shared anonymously by several of our members, so let’s start there shall we?
THE CLUB CORNER
The Club Corner is dedicated to our members’ questions, concerns, and confessions (overheard and shared by nosy members of staff who often ignore their NDAs). For today’s Club Corner, we have a collection of resolutions that appear to have been drunkenly scribbled on some paper stolen from the club library after our Christmas party. Oh, and one on a ‘once perfectly fine but now completely ruined’ club napkin.
OVERPRICED AND OVERSUBSCRIBED
Sometimes, when a new restaurant opens its doors, the 3-month waitlist and extortionate menu prices tend to override one’s desire to be able to brag about dining at said new restaurant when brought up during casual conversation at a cocktail party. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a trusted source with the time and money to test-run these places for you? Well, of course, it would be nice, and of course, we have someone to do just that for our members. Our latest contributor, Max, is known amongst his circle as ‘concierge services’. Need the name of a maĂ®tre d’? He has it in his little black book. Heard great things about a new restaurant or bar? He’s already been 5 times and knows what to order off menu. Max’s Little Black Book of London will sit in our ‘Guides’ and be updated sporadically (reservations and bank balance pending, of course). You can read all of his current reviews using the button below, but until then, we will start you off with Row On 5.
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“Would you like your coat dry cleaned while you have dinner?” was the first question asked to me after arriving at the reception at 5 Savile Row. Of course, this is Savile Row, there must be an element of “gentlemen’s fashion” to the meal. Little did I know this would be the first of many flawless details of the evening ahead.
​Jason Atherton & Spencer Metzgers’ brand-new restaurant, which had only been open for two weeks prior to my visit, starts downstairs. I wanted an aperitif, so I was shown around the champagne room by Roxy, filled with the best houses with some of the best vintages. In fact, the entire Lower Ground is surrounded by wine rooms, filled to the brim with the best wines from around the world. Oh. Be warned though. The wine list isn’t really a list, but more a book that could be mistaken to be a 17th-century Bible…it’s huge!
The first four courses of the 15-course tasting menu begin downstairs. Immaculate mouthfuls of Cornish Tuna with Yuzu, the most tender langoustine tempura (along with personalised Chopsticks) and this incredible cheese and onion flavour bomb. I make a remark to the sous-chef whose job was to perfectly align these micro leaves on some of the amuse-bouches. The dishes all sit perfectly alongside the immaculate bespoke suits of Savile Row, with no detail overlooked. ​After the first courses have been served, you are escorted, via the wines, up to this clean, light oak panelled room filled with only around 15 tables in total. We are seated at the chefs’ counter, where two handwritten envelopes are waiting, along with a letter opener. We open the envelope to find the menu, which is quickly whisked away, and the fifth course is presented to us. ​The whole meal is a perfectly choreographed dance, with the dishes all having some element of being finished at the table, for us, by Spencer himself. We opted for the basic wine pairing (there are three options), I find that for these meals, going with wine selected by the incredibly skilled sommeliers is sometimes the best way to enjoy the experience of it all. Brioche, Turbot, and Wagyu are all beautifully presented and have the perfect portion sizes. My guest and I, by the end, are perfectly full, not too little, not too much, just right.
​Back downstairs to finish the meal with “tea and cake”, followed by a chest, yes, a chest on wheels, of petit-fours. Always my favourite. We leave, presented with a little present (I shall save the spoilers), along with my newly dry-cleaned overcoat.
​I can imagine that this restaurant will have one, maybe two stars very, very quickly. The meal isn’t just food on a plate; it is a beautiful culinary experience. Did I enjoy the meal? Yes. Do I need to go again? No. Would I go again if someone else was paying? Absolutely 100%. Go while you can still get a table; I can see very quickly that reservations will be very hard to get.
5 Savile Row, London, W1. Tasting Menu ÂŁ198.50, Wine Pairing ÂŁ150, Wagyu supplement ÂŁ45. Expect ÂŁ300-500/pp. Drink: Basic Wine pairing Eat: +Wagyu supplement. |
CLUB UPDATES
- A reminder to Private Members to check the ‘Bulletin’ section in their account for regular (and very important) updates.
- The Rhubarb Society Book Club will resume this month with live discussions in The Clubhouse, so please ensure your account is connected to our Discord server to participate. We are currently taking suggestions for what the first book should be, so please be sure to submit your suggestions!
- The club will also be introducing a Games Night, which will take place in The Clubhouse. If you would like to get involved, you can become a Private Member and join us here.
- We are pleased to inform members that the first drop of our Members’ Collection will be coming later this year, including t-shirts, shirts, and a sweatshirt. The club will be releasing these in our new house colours with different house colours being available to different membership types. We will be asking for members’ feedback on colours and styles in due course.
- For London members, we are pleased to say that all of our dog-related merchandise can now be purchased in-store at Love My Human in Chelsea.
- We are currently looking at organising our first in-person event for our members, which will be an intimate (and ticketed) gathering. Private members will receive first priority for tickets. Should this go well and no one take legal action against us, we will look at hosting a larger event for as many members as possible.
FILM AND TV
If January Blues, a pending ski holiday, and a myriad of leftover Christmas booze have you housebound this month, we have you covered. The below Rhubarb Society picks for Film and TV are all available to stream from the comfort of your sofa (complete with a burning fireplace, a dog-haired covered rug across your lap, and a hot drink spiked with something punchy). Enjoy.
Alice In Borderland – If season 2 of Squid Games is half an episode away from sending you into a boredom-induced coma, Alice In Borderland is here to save you. With 2 seasons (and eight episodes per season), there is enough dystopian gameplay, suspense, and violence to keep you entertained until the third season comes later this year.
La Chimera – Escape to Tuscany with this period drama, featuring our favourite slightly rumpled, oddly handsome, but oh-so-charming Josh O’Connor. La Chimera is about a happy-go-lucky collective of grave-robbers who survive by looting Etruscan tombs (much like thode distant relatives who periodically come to loot Grannie’s jewellery collection but far more charming).
Challengers – Make it a Josh O’Connor double bill by watching everyone’s favourite horny throuple in action. If you want to sound cultured at Dinner parties, you can also talk about the Ross & Reznor score that just won them a Golden Globe.
Shogun – Another Golden Globe winner (four, in fact) that’s worth the time and effort spent reading subtitles. Set in Japan in the 1600s, Shogun is a stunning and captivating show that is perfectly paced with deeply developed characters who are impossible not to care about.
Kinds of Kindness – A triptych fable that can easily be watched in three separate sittings if you’re short on time and attention span. From the bizarre mind of Yorgos Lanthimos, Kinds of Kindness is the type of film you could never accuse of being boring. If you enjoy a cocktail of violence, humour, and morbidity, this film is for you.
The Substance – Cancel that appointment with Dr Levine and embrace the rollercoaster that is The Substance. An incredibly witty and gory film that grabs you by the hair and never lets go with a career-best performance from Demi Moore (and the role that rewarded her with her first Academy Award). This film along with the character Elisasue will live in your mind for days after you watch this, whether you like it or not.