The Rake

There is a shop on St James’s Street in London’s Mayfair that has not moved since 1765. Not just the building — the Blitz got close — but the occupants. Lock & Co. Hatters moved in having established themselves in 1676, and this year they mark their 350th anniversary. The United States of America, for context, is celebrating only 250 years of existence. Make of that what you will. The story begins in earnest in 1676, when a hatter named Robert Davis established a shop on the same street.

When Charles Finch opened Chucs Bar and Grill on Dover Street in 2014, I was under his employment, and therefore contractually obliged to think it was marvellous. And to be fair, it was: a sloop-cabin-size restaurant with touches of its eponym’s taste everywhere. Stepping into the new Bar Finch with only fond memories of Finch’s Quarterly Review and the occasional “What ho!” across Mayfair streets to tie us together, I could be more objective with my opinion of his latest venture.

When Charles Finch opened Chucs Bar and Grill on Dover Street in 2014, I was under his employment, and therefore contractually obliged to think it was marvellous. And to be fair, it was: a sloop-cabin-size restaurant with touches of its eponym’s taste everywhere. Stepping into the new Bar Finch with only fond memories of Finch’s Quarterly Review and the occasional “What ho!” across Mayfair streets to tie us together, I could be more objective with my opinion of his latest venture.

Guy de Rothschild had a thing for maxims. “According to an old French motto, noblesse oblige, one must live up to one’s name,” he once said. “The Rothschilds’ condition of life has imposed on them a second motto: ‘richesse oblige’ — one must live up to one’s fortune.” Baron Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul de Rothschild knew whereof he spoke, never being under-burdened with either.

There is a certain audacity involved in playing Harry Kane. Not just technically — though Will Antenbring is candid about having spent weeks practising penalties he could never quite execute with Kane’s precision — but psychologically. Kane, the England striker and captain portrayed by Antenbring in the BBC’s adaptation of James Graham’s football-themed play Dear England, is not merely famous, he is a figure freighted with national expectation.

There are few things that sit more readily in an Englishman’s sense of nostalgia than a barbecue on one of our rare perfect summer days. The scent of smouldering charcoal, sausages and burgers splitting at the seams, and charred corn. The above is, however, evidence of the mistake we have been making for a long time. To the British, barbecue is a menu, not a method, and for many of us the aforementioned items are basically all we’re aware of.

Readers of The Rake know better than to consider watches a mere styling accoutrement, and the dress watch serves a unique function. The most compelling examples express a particular philosophy: the watch should suit the wearer’s wrist, not dominate it. Blancpain’s latest additions to their Villeret collection – "The Thinnest Argument" – are a masterclass in the pursuit of refinement, reflecting a broader appreciation for classical proportions that resonates with contemporary collectors.

Two days before The Rake's team and Matt Holyoak congregated to photograph Stanley Tucci in the penthouse at Claridge’s, Tucci attended the Met Gala for the first time in 20 years, and by a distance he was the best-dressed at the event. He was in perfect black tie with a British-racing-green smoking jacket — perhaps a subconscious reminder of where his heart lies these days.

The romance of Rome endures every lick of heat or frost, but with the Med a mere 15 miles from the city’s perimeter, the call of the sea is sometimes too strong to resist. Especially when the clothes are this appealing.

Bartenders are family. We all have our favourites, the ones we look forward to greeting when we enter our regular bar or club — the ones who always look pleased to see us even when they’re buried in the evening rush. They become family because they often know us better than some of our biological kin. They know what we like, what we do, how we relax and, sometimes most importantly, what we don’t like.