BEHIND THE STORY
Annabel’s was the perfect location to capture the cover story for our December party issue
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Matteo’s pays homage to the original Annabel’s
f you’re a somebody, where do you go to let your hair down in style, but away from prying eyes? The answer, of course, has always been Annabel’s. First opened by Mark Birley on Berkeley Square in 1963, it has been just over a year since it reopened, two doors down from the original venue, with an all-singing, all-dancing makeover by Swedish interior designer du jour, Martin Brudnizki. And what a year it’s been. If you wait long enough on its illustrious steps, you might see Rod Stewart stumbling out in a school uniform, or Princess Beatrice entering dressed as a unicorn. But what goes on behind that glossy front door? Annabel’s has hosted everything from glittery fashion parties – Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell were at this year’s Vogue Fashion Week party – to postexhibition cocktails for superstar photographer Tim Walker. You might see Rihanna slurping down a ‘Bloody’ cocktail at its infamous Halloween parties, Jimmy Carr hosting a quiz night, or even receive some ill-conceived childcare advice from Charlie Sheen: If you are hiring a nanny, he says, ‘Make sure she is ten times less hot than your wife’. Hmm... The ladies’ powder room has become a global phenomenon in its own right, thanks to the voracity of the Instagram pack – tagged 20,000 times and counting. (If you haven’t taken a selfie there, have you even been Jess Glynne takes to Annabel’s?) Victoria Beckham was the first to the stage
Crocodile sink carved from a single piece of onyx
VB took the first selfie in the loos
New Italian restaurant Matteo’s
to get in on the action in the new rainforestthemed loos, snapping her inaugural selfie in the ‘Loos in the Mews’, which feature four million mosaic glass tiles and a 500kg onyx crocodile sink in the gents’. Those of us who haven’t had the invite have at least been able to enjoy Annabel’s OTT decorations, which have included cladding the exterior with 30,000 flowers for the Chelsea Flower Show and building a Christmas tree taller than the building. If you don’t have membership, you can sample a taste of the good life by booking one of its private dining rooms for special occasions. Country & Town House did, however, get the invite: to shoot our suitably glitzy cover feature for the December issue with Scottish actress Karen Gillan. Given that Annabel’s holds the largest selection of Dom Pérignon champagne of any restaurant globally (in Matteo’s), plus over 500 tequilas in its Mexican restaurant, it couldn’t be a better fit for our party special. It might be the choice of HM The Queen (she dropped in for a gin martini in 2003) but Annabel’s is anything but staid. It’s not a stuffy old boys’ club (its membership is split 50/50 men and women) – although it does have a world-class cigar salon; and what other club offers a dog-walking service or an ice sculptor on demand? This nightingale in Berkeley Square really does sing. No holding back on the glitter
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31/10/2019 13:41