Londoner’s Diary
He may be the face of Walkers Crisps, but in reality Gary Lineker has much more refined taste. So keen is he on Ottolenghi that he was the first guest through the door for a party at the chef’s restaurant in Fitzrovia, arriving 20 minutes early. “Footballers are always on time – otherwise you get fined,” he explained, while eyeing up a platter of sweetcorn ribs.
Aspiring podcast bros take note: Lineker, who is head of Goalhanger Productions, told us he has had enough of receiving pitches for podcasts like “The Rest is Geography”. A little more creativity is needed to catch his attention. Though he hinted that a new addition to the Rest Is... franchise is coming, and “it might be science related”.
The party was held at Rovi, with floral installations by Hamish Powell, roving trays of celeriac shawarma and pickle-filled martinis. The restaurant is newly renovated and redecorated after suffering a “massive leak”, according to Ottolenghi in his speech. The main victim was Rovi’s downstairs neighbour, The Cartoon Museum. “They wanted to kill us. For a whole year we’ve been destroying all their cartoons,” he said.
Ottolenghi is famous for bringing things like za’atar and pomegranate molasses to the chattering classes. But there’s a new kid on the block: the chef told us that the hot new ingredient is carob syrup. Waitrose, take note.
Let them eat steak
Meanwhile in Mayfair, Kim Cattrall was holding court at The Dover with her boyfriend Russell Thomas at a dinner hosted by Jimmy Choo. Guests including actors Charithra Chandra and Guy Remmers and socialites Evie Henderson and Lola Bute were fed steak and chips and given special Jimmy Choo x Dover merch, including candles and caps.
Over in South Kensington, the V&A held an ultra exclusive dinner to herald its new exhibition on the style of French queen Marie Antoinette. Among guests were director Sofia Coppola, shoemaker Manolo Blahnik, director of the V&A Tristram Hunt and Dr Sarah Grant, who curated the exhibition. The following evening there was a VIP preview party for the exhibition, with some suitably genteel guests including Flora Vesterberg, former culture secretary Lord Vaizey and Lady Martha Sitwell.
