Londoner's Diary: Birley eyes up Wilde’s old Mayfair haunt

In today's diary: Birley takes on the new Annabel's| Can Corbyn solve a problem like a courgette shortage| Bernie Ecclestone in hot water| Will Amal Clooney reign supreme?  
(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Pace London
25 January 2017

Anything Richard Caring can do, Robin Birley wants to do too. Caring, owner of the exclusive Caprice Group of restaurants as well as several private members’ clubs, is currently working on a brand new Annabel’s in Berkeley Square. But Birley, with whom he has an arch rivalry, is coming up from behind in an attempt to retake the crown of King of Clubs.

The Londoner hears that Birley, who already owns much-loved watering hole 5 Hertford Street, is seeking a location in Mayfair to house a new members’ club. A rumour posted on Urbanologie, the app and lifestyle website, proposes 13 Albemarle Street, a large site which would provide enough room for a multi-storeyed club — it was once, after all, The Albemarle, Oscar Wilde’s club. Birley is, we’re told, hoping to create a club that caters to professionals by day, marking a change of tack: 5 Hertford Street isn’t exactly known for its hot-desking.

The talk around clubland of an expansion in Birley’s portfolio may not sit well with Caring. The pair waged a legal dispute back in 2010, when Birley planned to call his new club Birley. Caring, who had purchased the Birley Group from Robin’s father, Mark, in 2007, argued that the group came with the rights to the name. All was, apparently, settled over a gentlemen’s lunch at Wiltons in St James’s, but it seems an uneasy truce.

The Londoner contacted a representative of Birley this morning to see if he would be picking up the keys any time soon but has yet to hear back. Our source is certain that, even if number 13 proves unlucky, Birley still hopes to put Albermarle Street back on the Mayfair map. Prepare for a brand new battle of the members’ clubs.

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WITH Theresa May meeting Donald Trump on Friday, do ex-Prime Ministers have any advice? The Londoner asked John Major at the British Library last night. He refused to help. “I’m here to have fun,” said a man freed of responsibilities. Instead, he talked about his father, a music hall performer. His interlocutor sensed disappointment in the audience that there was no singing. “If I sang, the disappointment would be greater,” quipped the ex-PM. Oh, say can you see.

Could Corbyn beat the courgette threat?

COULD Jeremy Corbyn be our vegetable hero? A cold winter in Spain has led to a shortage of courgettes and spinach in shops this year. The Londoner had an idea: could the Labour leader grow replacements in his famous East Finchley allotment?We called this morning to ask. “You can’t grow courgettes at this time of year,” said David Holt, chairman of the allotments. “We do have winter cabbage, leeks and perpetual spinach, which is fairly winter-hardy.” But it is “just a supplement to what you buy in the supermarket”, he explained. Corbyn himself did not reply to texts yesterday. Perhaps he was in the garden digging for victory.

Tartan army comes out to play

The Londoner donned our best tartan last night and headed to Boisdale of Mayfair for a Burns Night supper a day before the official celebrations. Proud Scotsmen Andrew Neil and Ranald Macdonald, owner of the restaurant and its three other London outposts, and honorary Scot Nancy Dell’Olio sat down for a feast of haggis and whisky, with the traditional piper presenting a lengthy ode to the haggis before it was served. In the dining room, a kilted Macdonald told The Londoner he would be thrilled to welcome Donald Trump to sup there on his next visit — his mother Mary MacLeod was a proud Scot. When pudding was announced as being a Tipsy Scotch Tart, Andrew Neil chortled: “I didn’t know Nicola Sturgeon was here.”

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Bernie Ecclestone may have released his grip on Formula 1 after 40 years but new bosses should still keep an eye on him, according to the FT. Team principal Christian Horner recalls a wily Bernie betting he could swim a length of a hotel pool faster than young German champion Sebastian Vettel. The only condition was that Vettel had to drink a glass of water first. When Vettel accepted the bet, Ecclestone asked a waiter to bring a glass of boiling water.

(Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Amal could reign supreme

LAWYER Amal Clooney was featured among a host of more veteran legal minds on this year’s Debrett’s 500. Now Legal Cheek, the go-to gossip website for lawyers, asks whether she can go higher. Six members of the Supreme Court are due to retire this year, it notes. New appointees need to have qualified at least 15 years ago and have been practising in that time. Clooney was admitted to the New York bar in 2002... 15 years ago. Legal Cheek says: “She’s a spring chicken ... but watch this space.”

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Bestseller of the day: 1984 has shot back into the charts after Kellyanne Conway’s use of the distinctly Orwellian phrase “alternative facts”.

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