A Cantina Takes Shape in Tony Members Club Annabel’s

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A Cantina Takes Shape in Tony Members Club Annabel’s

London is known for many things: its unrivaled theater scene, its museums and historic architecture, and even for kicking off the membership club trend way back in 1693. What it’s not known for is Latin American cuisine, but perhaps that changes with Bolivar: an 18th century–inspired cantina at Annabel’s, one of the city’s buzziest private clubs. So far, its wagyu picanha, carved tableside, along with its cauliflower al pastor and Georgios Iordanidis’ wine list of standout Argentinian vintages are among the menu’s most lauded offerings.

To cultivate its moody interior, Fettle—designer Tom Parker’s studio that has become known for cutting-edge boutique projects in London, Los Angeles, and Rome—assembled antique furniture and textiles, custom-made wrought iron chandeliers and wall lanterns, and exposed timber planks to create a transportive sense of place. The effect pulls guests to a different continent and century from the rest of the club’s Gilded Age fever dream interiors. Custom and curated art, courtesy of Adam Ellis Studio, ties it together with a chef’s kiss. —Jenna Adrian-Diaz

SHOP
The Row’s Breezy Entry Into Amagansett

As the stoic torchbearers of luxurious basics and color wheels that rarely venture beyond creamy cashmere, The Row intentionally makes little noise. Even connoisseurs of the label founded in 2006 by Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen may have missed the announcement of its fourth bricks-and-mortar outpost, in Amagansett, which officially opened over Memorial Day to greet in-the-know weekenders and the summer crowd. While the label’s boutiques in Los Angeles, New York City, and London have a reputation for intimidating even the most deep-pocketed clients, the new store is much more warm and breezy.

It takes over a storybook 19th-century cottage on Main Street that once housed artisanal homewares stronghold Tiina the Store, trading in James Turrell lightworks and slick limestone staircases for screen doors, woven carpets, and denim patchwork curtains. Catering to its coastal locale, the ready-to-wear on offer also skews beachy: bike shorts, denim shirts, ribbed tank tops. Furniture by Olivier Mourgue Bouloum and Robert Mallet-Stevens, much of it sourced by Magen H Gallery, is available for purchase, as is a curation of artisanal jewelry, homewares, and snacks that offer new entry points into a label known for extreme prices. If it’s hard to justify dropping four figures on those leather Almond Pumps, a jar of raw almonds might do the trick. —Ryan Waddoups

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The Coral Club Brings Mediterranean Escapism to Nashville

Tucked just off The Music City’s busy Gallatin Pike highway, the newly opened cocktail bar Coral Club recreates the ambiance of a Mediterranean beach club in East Nashville. Under the supervision of bar manager and Attaboy alumnus Matthew Izaguirre, guests can look forward to on-theme refreshments like a rosé paloma or a mezcal and passionfruit “Sunliner” to cut through the brutal Tennessee heat. Studio Yuda’s serene stone and plaster interiors, with their driftwood eucalyptus pole ceilings, might mentally evoke the Northern hemisphere’s farthest reaches, but the distinctly Southern hospitality reminds how there’s truly no place like home. —J.A.D.

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At a Firenze Hotel, Rare Manuscripts Look Inside da Vinci’s Mind

The Place Firenze hotel in Florence has unveiled an unexpected collection celebrating the genius of Leonardo da Vinci through groundbreaking reproductions of his manuscripts. Featuring a series of recreated books crafted from specially treated leather and printed to match the original documents to the finest detail, it offers a rare glimpse into da Vinci’s mind. Each page showcases his sketches of architectural marvels—war machines, anatomical studies—and his idiosyncratic writing style, often from right to left in a self-invented language. The collection, a collaboration with the esteemed Florentine publishing house Giunti Editore, presents da Vinci’s original notes alongside translations, providing today’s readers with a clear understanding of his revolutionary ideas and musings. —Nate Storey

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Classic Bauhaus Furniture in Unexpected Colors

Tubular steel likely comes to mind first when thinking of the Bauhaus furniture made by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer. When the era-defining pieces were first made by German workshops, though, their frames were painted. In honor of that heritage, Knoll is making the MR Chair and Table, Wassily Chair, Cesca Chairs and Stools, and Laccio Tables available in three new ultra-matte finishes: white, black, and an archival dark red.

The new colors may present these classics in a previously unseen light, but each has roots in the institution. The dark red finish was inspired by a Bauhaus color originally offered on the MR Chair while the white and black were valued by Bauhaus designers for how they reflected or absorbed light, enhanced geometric forms, and defined edges. “The way these colors interact with the seats and backrests completely changes our perception of the work,” says Jonathan Olivares, Knoll’s SVP of Design, “and allows us to see them with fresh eyes.” —R.W.

LISTEN
A Chronicle of Africa’s Showing at the Venice Biennale

This year’s edition of the Venice Biennale features the largest contingent of participating African nations. Coinciding with this milestone and debuting today is “Everything is Connected, The Venice Biennale Edition,” a new podcast from Light Work and the Africa Institute, Global Studies University Sharjah. Over six episodes, the artist, writer, and host Folasade Ologundudu converses with curators and artists who orchestrated Nigeria, Benin, Egypt, Angola, and more African countries’ showcases at this year’s biennale. Ologundudu’s conversations with interviewees, who include Nigerian pavilion curator Aindrea Emelife, South African artist collection MadeYouLook, explore the commonalities between how each nation in turn shapes its artists’ practices. —J.A.D.

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In Paris, Hotel Balzac Exudes 1930s-Inspired Classicism

If Festen Architecture founders Charlotte de Tonnac and Hugo Sauzay have anything to say about it, subtlety speaks volumes. That’s certainly the case at Paris’s newly refreshed Hotel Balzac, whose warm oak and softly glowing interiors are the result of a recent revamp by the local studio. Named for the French writer Honoré de Balzac, the five-star hotel radiates a timeless elegance befitting its perch among the Eighth Arrondissement’s regal monuments. A pristine lobby lounge offers Petrossian caviar and an abundance of black truffle while clefs d’or concierges ensure the hotel’s discerning clientele are equipped to enjoy Paris on their own terms.—J.A.D