SLICE OF OLD-BOY STYLE HITS CITY FINE WINING AND DINING CIRCUIT
NOT so long ago, City types were busy bemoaning the lack of decent restaurants on their patch. But now, just weeks after the Galvin brothers announced they were opening a new pad near Spitalfields market, I hear there’s a new eatery coming to town, courtesy of Simon Parker Bowles, former brother-in-law to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Parker Bowles already owns Green’s restaurant and oyster bar on Duke Street in Mayfair, an old-boy favourite for its club-style atmosphere, old English décor and robust, rich food. His next offering will be another Green’s, located in the old Lloyd’s banking hall on Cornhill, and will seat over 300 in an elaborate bar and mezzanine restaurant.
“It’s an incredible building, and because it’s listed, we’ll be keeping all the old structures, right down to the Lloyd’s black horse mosaic in the floor,” says Parker Bowles, who’s roped in Cenkos founder Andy Stewart as a partner to help bring in the City hordes.
“When this idea was conceived, it was before the economy took a dive, but to be honest, even if the restaurant gets off to a slow start, it’ll be there in the right place at the right time when the recovery begins.”
Now that’s the spirit. The restaurant opens to the public on 3 September, with a swanky celebratory party the night before – to mark both the opening and the anniversary of Stewart’s 40 years in the City, in case any excuse were needed.
CLOTHING DRIVE
Good old Sir Stuart Rose is becoming quite the comedian in his old age, isn’t he? In the middle of a riproaring AGM yesterday, the Marks & Spencer boss wheeled out a clothes rack onto the stage and proceeded to practice his sales skills with different items of clothing, for no apparent reason.
Rose soon came to the pièce de résistance – the green silk bra famous for its appearance in the recent “we boobed” adverts, released to admit M&S’s mistake in charging more for bras for, ahem, larger ladies.
“If you don’t recognise this, I don’t know where you’ve been,” he quipped, before flourishing the garment about so enthusiastically that it became entangled in his own clothing.
Still, The Capitalist’s spies say he laughed off the incident like a pro.
WAKE-UP CALL
The City is still reeling in shock from the tragic death of Anjool Malde, the Deutsche Bank stockbroker who threw himself from Coq D’Argent, the sixth-floor restaurant at 1 Poultry, at the weekend.
Since this is the second time such a thing has happened – two years ago, another City type leapt to his death from the restaurant, landing on the roof of a bus – I call Coq D’Argent to find out whether any additional safety measures are being implemented at the roof terrace.
“We’re not prepared to comment on that,” blocks a spokesman. “At the moment, it’s business as usual.”
In a world where ‘elf ‘n’ safety regulations mean that we can sue for cutting ourselves on the edge of a plant leaf, it’s hard to believe such a catastrophe could fail to act as the harshest of wake-up calls.
HOT CONTEST
Over to the Guildhall yesterday for something of an unusual event: an election for the three candidates standing for two vacant posts for the office of Sheriff of Canada.
Usually, these things are a shoe-in, with a few favourite candidates walking the original vote. But this time, a third arrived to upset the apple cart, and a show of hands at the Guildhall a few weeks ago led to one of them demanding an official vote for the first time in ten years.
David Wootton, a partner at Allen & Overy, was voted in easily and is already an Alderman, meaning he could become Lord Mayor in the future. Fighting over the second seat were Peter Cook, the former owner of building products firm Snowcem, and Tim Oliver, the chairman of Lloyd’s insurance market adviser Hampden Holdings – whose brother, Sir Michael Oliver, was Lord Mayor in 2001-2002.
Peter Cook eventually came through to win the post at the election, which saw 60 people canvassing around the Guildhall yesterday, complete with flags, banners and coffee stalls.
“It’s a hell of a lot busier than the local polling booths at the European elections were,” muttered one.
WITCHY BUSINESS
Fancy getting out of the City for a refreshing career break? Then how about this for size: Wookey Hole, a Somerset tourist site, is offering a job as its resident witch, living in its authentic caves, teaching magic, and attempting to cause a whole host of social ills. Applicants – of both sexes, since the tourist site is keen to avoid being sued under discrimination law – need only be able to cackle and must not be allergic to cats, the job advert stipulates.
With the latest hint of a crackdown on compensation in the Treasury’s banking white paper yesterday, potential applicants might like to note that the salary for said post is £50,000 per annum. Eminently respectable given the probable high level of job satisfaction, I’d say.