Turkish cooking in London has long meant the ocakbaşı grill houses of the north-east of the capital, and few chefs have done more to move them on than Sertaç Dirik. He grew up in the kitchen of Mangal II, the Dalston dining room his father opened in 1994, and after cooking with the top names in Copenhagen, he returned home six years ago to reinvent the family business with his brother Ferhat, propelling it into the National Restaurant Awards Top 50. Kid in Soho is his first solo restaurant, and his partner is David Carter, who has spent the past decade turning out great places to eat, from Smokestak and Manteca in Shoreditch to Oma and Agora in Borough Market. Carter knows how to open a hit; recruiting Dirik has given him an extra shot of cool.

Wallpaper* dines at Kid, London

The mood: Soho, set alight

The first realisation for guests is that getting in is a challenge. Walk the length of the Frith Street frontage, and you’ll see diners having the time of their lives inside, but there’s no obvious door. That’s round the side on Bateman Street – look out for the tiny goat stamped in the metal – and the first thing it reveals is Dirik manning the flames of the grill. The second is the certainty that you’ve arrived in one of the most happening rooms in London.

Carter has worked with Box 9 for more than ten years, and here the London-based design practice has joined two units of an 1897 corner building and united them through brick: 73,000 unfired K-Briqs, to be precise, made from construction waste and used to form niches, a latticed screen, a fireplace surround and a curving wall down the stairs. ‘We studied the brick patterns and coursing found across historic London façades and worked closely with the bricklayers to understand their trade,’ says Box 9 co-founder Lou Davies. ‘The fit-out was drawn brick by brick, with every joint aligned, allowing the brick to become more than a structural material and instead a contemporary expression of Turkish symbols.’

Overhead, cork joists from Amorim in Portugal soften the ceiling, while the banquettes are covered in chocolate-brown Arc of Joan textiles, dyed by hand and embroidered with kilim motifs, and the chairs are in moss-green canvas. An oversized mobile by the Turkish artist Selin Nisa Açıkel, cast in bronze from recycled copper, hangs above the stairs that lead to the most important part of the whole operation: an open bakery.

The food: Kid gloves off

Begin with bread from downstairs: the tombik pide arrives puffed and blistered from the wood oven, the Wildfarmed pide scored and charred from the grill. Snacks come by the individual piece, so order a courgette flower in crisp batter, blanketed in grated tulum goat’s cheese and drizzled with atom honey, and chubby slices of the house sucuk sausage with a purée of grilled peach that tastes like sweet ketchup. From the meze, muhammara comes heaped with walnuts and feta-like beyaz peynir, and the hummus is all but buried under a crunchy rubble of fried chickpeas.

Skewers of lamb belly and sweetbreads, glossy and blackened at the edges, are a contrast of succulence and squidge cut through by a bed of grilled onions, but the showstopper is the mixed kebap: Adana köfte, chicken and lamb piled high with scorched peppers and a tangle of pink onions, plus a çoban salata of cucumber and tomato on the side.

To finish, the mountain tea rice pudding with orange blossom is already one of London’s most tempting desserts, like a sophisticated cross between Ambrosia and crème brûlée. And whatever else you drink, have a şeftali margarita, as peachy as a Bellini. And, happily, the door is much easier to find on the way out.

Kid is located at 55 Frith Street, London W1D 4SJ, UK

Hanamurasaki is a traditional Japanese ryokan – with a fresh modern twist. Wrapped in nature, the family-run hotel overlooks the drama of a river flowing through a gorge in an ancient hot spring village in the Hokuriku region of central Japan. In addition to its classic ryokan mix of omotenashi hospitality, nature appreciation and hot spring soaking, the hotel has reimagined its 125-year heritage – with contemporary interiors, art installations, a gallery and a bespoke furniture collection, all brought to life through the sharp vision of sixth-generation owner Kohei Yamada and his wife Manami.

Measured yet modern, their contemporary interventions are serene, minimalist and crafted. Simplicity, the Tokyo studio run by Shinichiro Ogata, designed a light-flooded tea room called Sabo, as well as five escapist suites, with tactile material sweeps of stone, washi, mortar and soft white curves. Pared-back interiors are filled with curated scatterings of abstract sculptures and lighting by contemporary Japanese artists (in ceramics, lacquer, wood, paper, glass).

This autumn, the ryokan’s traditional tatami-mat Japanese rooms were also given a modern update, with the launch of Hanamurasaki’s new contemporary furniture collection: ‘Suminobi’. Low-lying, minimalist and softly curved, the furniture is designed to harmonise horizontally with its tatami setting, with clean modern lines shaped by traditional carpentry techniques.

The creative dialogue is ongoing, according to Yamada, who is as comfortable among street art as he is with generations-old craftsmanship. ‘In the past, onsen ryokan would often have artists-in-residence staying with them,’ he tells Wallpaper*. ‘Artists would come and stay and leave an artwork. We are very inspired by this idea at Hanamurasaki.’ The couple – who both previously lived overseas, Kohei in Singapore, Manami studying art and photography in San Francisco – also recently opened the art gallery Yamadart in nearby Kanazawa city.

Wallpaper* checks in at Hanamurasaki, Yamanaka Onsen

What’s on your doorstep?

Yamanaka Onsen is a speck of a village in Ishikawa Prefecture, known for more than 1,300 years of volcanic hot spring bathing and the beauty of its traditional lacquerware – and it’s worth heading off the beaten tourist trail to get there. The Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train stops at nearby Kagaonsen Station (up to three hours from Tokyo, or 20 minutes from Kanazawa); the hotel is around 20 minutes away by shuttle or taxi.

What’s the story behind it?

It was in 1902 that the ryokan, initially called Yamadaya, first opened, becoming a much-loved local hot spring retreat. Yamada’s father relocated the hotel to a newly built property nearby in the 1980s and renamed it Hanamurasaki – its name inspired by the poetic phrase Sanshi Suimei – ‘purple mountains and clear waters’. Over the past four years, the hotel has steadily transformed through the vision of Yamada and his wife – with renovations, creative projects and artworks continuing to tap into the essence of Japanese culture, expressed through a fresh modern perspective.

What’s the arrival like?

A stroll through a small garden leads to a large white noren curtain with numerous vertical slits, etched with the calligraphic simplicity of a Zen-like circle. Crossing the threshold, the genkan entry is spacious and minimal – a sweep of stone flooring beneath white walls with a wood and lacquerware abstraction by artist Eiko Tanaka, a woody, temple-like incense burning in the air. The stillness continues in the monochrome lobby, alongside a small gallery space showcasing the lacquer creations of Daigo Ohmura and a sculptural circle of light – all setting the tone for a minimalist, modern and crafted stay.

First thing to do?

Have a cup of tea (or six) at Sabo. The Simplicity-designed space at the heart of the ground floor is deeply serene, with softly curved white surfaces, light hexagonal floor tiles, dark wood tables and a tea counter with walls of windows framing bursts of green. Afternoon tea is a highlight. Expertly curated teas, from original Kaga Bocha twig tea to local Ishikawa black tea, are quietly served in exquisite ceramics, alongside tiered trays of creative treats – recently including turnip sushi, candied kumquat, yuzu jelly and lemon-simmered sweet potato (matcha beer and sencha tea gin and tonic are also on the menu).

The room to book

The hotel has 25 rooms – and the most coveted are the five suites by Simplicity. Spacious and curated, these are modern temples of serenity, steeped in modern craftsmanship, with low Western-style beds and an organic material palette sharpened by clean lines and soft curves. Modern Suite has smooth swathes of mortar across floors, ceilings and walls; a sunken table by lacquer artist Akihiko Sugeta; a deep stone onsen bath and sauna, alongside framed greenery. Art Suite has mortar walls lightly imprinted with grid-like mesh; glowing glass panels and lights by artist Rui Sasaki containing flowers and plants collected near Hanamurasaki; softly curved white interior edges; sharp black tiled bathrooms and a large round ceramic onsen bath plus sauna.

Most of the hotel’s Japanese rooms were gently updated this autumn – with the launch of Hanamurasaki’s new furniture collection ‘Suminobi’ (its name inspired by the traditional architectural technique of lengthening temple eaves and roof corners). Designed to harmonise with the traditional Japanese setting, the furniture is low-lying with simple horizontal lines – from window-facing beds to monochrome sofas, with organic white textile forms hovering on low bases of darkened white ash.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The restaurant is another highlight. Yamada’s father renovated the dining area 20 years ago, with dramatic washi wall abstractions by Kyoto artist Eriko Horiki and partitions between diners. Here, contemporary omakase kaiseki dining steals the show, with a constellation of crafted dishes, shifting according to Ishikawa’s seasonal ingredients from the sea and mountains. From November to March, a highlight is the Snow Crab menu, a celebration of a delicious local delicacy; unusually, vegetarian kaiseki is also available. Japanese breakfasts are expansive and high quality, with snow-white Koshihikari rice, sashimi and simmered tofu hot pots (Western-style omelettes and croissants are also available – again, something of a rarity in a ryokan).

Where to switch off

Aside from endless soaking in alkaline-rich onsen waters, the hotel offers innovative activities, many with local creatives, such as a painting experience with ceramic artist Eijyu Yaguchi. Another wintertime highlight is a snowshoe-making activity, with charismatic locals Aria and Masa, which aims to revive a dying tradition – hand-tying rope around curved bamboo to create kanjiki shoes, before putting them to the test in a nearby snow-wrapped mountain for a face-blastingly fresh hike, with warming tea in washi cups. Further projects are in the pipeline, from artist residencies to collaborations with regional artisans (retreats are scheduled next year with local author and illustrator Hannah Kirshner).

The verdict

Hanamurasaki is a perfectly pitched balance between past and present, materials and spaces, artists and guests. And best of all, it’s a living, breathing work in progress – likely to keep evolving, not only with Yamada and his wife at the helm, but with future generations too.

Hanamurasaki is located at 1-Ho17-1, Higashimachi, Yamanaka Onsen, Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, 922-0114, Japan

Monopoly can be the game that threatens family relationships. Yet, since its original conception by Elizabeth Magie in 1903, it has remained a popular household name for its thrill of deal-making and property empire-building without real financial risk. Now, your favourite board game just got chicer.

Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc on the Côte d'Azur is the inspiration for a new custom version of Monopoly. More than 150 years of Riviera history is packaged onto the square board. Instead of the board being divided into the traditional streets, stations and utilities of varying value, in the new game, each square is defined by a place, a service, or a moment of history from the hotel.

Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc's Monopoly board game

Players have the choice of six gold figures to move around the board, including the Eden-Roc buoy, the Autobianchi Bianchina Eden-Roc (the hotel’s 1960s cabriolet), the Queen Elizabeth rose (featured in the hotel garden), and a director’s chair (an ode to the Cannes Film Festival). Banknotes feature a wing of the hotel, Pavillon Eden-Roc, while ‘Chance’ and ‘Community Chest’ cards present opportunities such as a private tasting at Michelin-starred Louroc or a game of pétanque with the hotel's managing director Philippe Perd.

The hotel, which has a firm spot on The 50 Best Hotels 2026, has been an Antibes attraction since 1870. Its history inspired the game's illustrations by Haydée Otero, founder of Anisette Design, who used a palette of blues and greens, seen throughout the board and on the banknotes. The custom game, limited to 500 editions, preserves the traditional rules – let’s hope you draw the ‘get out of jail free’ card.

The game is priced €280 and is available from 20 October 2026, while supplies last, via edenrocrivieracollection.com and at the Eden-Roc Riviera Collection boutique

If you like to go out regularly in London, particularly in the south and east, you might have noticed a number of new ‘listening bars’ in recent months. The concept, which originated in Japan, means that everything, from the way the space is insulated and designed to the nightly music curation, revolves around sound. Some of these bars have quickly become beloved and highly respected spaces, such as Waltz in Shoreditch, owned by Tokyo-born Gento Torigata, who was formerly the manager of Kwãnt. At Waltz, speakers take centre stage alongside the spirits and a meticulously curated menu in a warm, ambient space.

What separates a listening bar from a bar with good speakers?

While many of these bars are faithful to the original concept, there are, of course, things that differentiate them from the Tokyo-based neighbourhood spots. One is that the price point, naturally, has to be much higher for a bar to survive on the mean streets of London.

James Gilbody is the owner of Freaking Out The Neighborhood, a listening bar in Bangkok. He recently moved back to London, so he has a perspective on the proliferation of listening bars across two continents. ‘It’s definitely a trend globally, and Bangkok is no different,’ he says, telling me that listening bars even got their own awards category this year in the local lifestyle publication BK Magazine. Gilbody’s own motivation for opening one was that there weren’t many places that played the kind of music he and his partner enjoy: left-field jazz, rock, indie and punk. ‘Selfishly, we wanted a space where we could listen to our favourite albums on a nice system at full volume,’ he says.

Michael Sager is the owner and director of Equal Parts, a listening bar in Hackney that opened in 2023 and has since won several awards and a spot on best-of lists. When opening Equal Parts, says Sager, the brief was always sound and drinks in equal measure: ‘The listening element was structural from day one, not a differentiator we retrofitted.’ In his opinion, the popularity of listening bars is down to a simple fact: they give people permission to actually listen. ‘Most hospitality spaces use music as atmosphere management – something to fill silence and keep energy up. A listening bar inverts that. The music is the reason you're there, and the drink is what you hold while you're paying attention. For a certain kind of person, that's an enormous relief.’

Of course, if being a listening bar is something that gives one bar an edge over another, it would follow that some might be tempted to call themselves one without actually understanding what the concept means. Some spaces might do so without actually evoking the soul of some Shimokitazawa neighbourhood spot that’s been built around music.

Sager says that what differentiates a true listening bar is ‘intention and consequence’. At Equal Parts, they developed the sound system in collaboration with Audio Gold, and the room itself is lined with walnut and felt to cancel noise and enhance how sound moves through the space. They play exclusively vinyl, always full albums in order, because they believe in respecting the artist’s intention. The staff themselves are experts in selecting music, and, as Sager says, ‘Any bar can put on a good record. A listening bar is one where the music dictates the energy of the room, not the other way around.’

Gilbody agrees, adding that there are few authentic listening bars outside of Japan. ‘The main trend globally is people opening bars with nice speakers but not much music curation from the venue and not much listening happening,’ he says. ‘It’s Instagram friendly and an easy way to essentially rebrand a cocktail bar or have something else to market.’

What differentiates a listening bar, according to Gilbody, is that the experience should be quiet and cosy, something he and his wife Ki fell in love with. While some Japanese listening bars don’t even let you speak or go on your phone, he doesn’t think it needs to be that strict – but it should be intimate. ‘It should feel like you’re in someone’s living room listening to their record collection. The personality of the place and the curation of the music should ideally come from the owners,’ he says.

The explosion of listening bars across London might point to something beyond a fascination with Japan or simple trend-following. It is harder than ever to break even as a bar, especially a new one, in the city. That means, to stand out against the thousands of bars in London, you have to offer something unique. There’s a need for an experiential component beyond sleek interiors and well-balanced drinks. Guest bar takeovers, collaborations, events and themed menus have become the norm at the city’s top bars, and owners are getting increasingly creative.

Ryan Chetiyawardana, also known as Mr Lyan, is the award-winning owner behind Seed Library and, most recently, Lyaness in the Sea Containers on the South Bank. Lyaness is a bar with stunning interiors, imaginative drinks and an unbeatable view – but going above and beyond that, there are regular collaborations with global bars such as SIPS (Barcelona), Candelaria (Paris), Native (Singapore) and more through the Sunday Lyan series.

Bars innovating to thrive

‘With all our bars, we try to balance the fact that we're a destination venue with being as democratic and available to as many people as possible, functioning as a great neighbourhood bar can,’ says Chetiyawardana. ‘Innovation, excitement and togetherness are central pillars to our work, so we always wanted to go beyond what was more ubiquitous.’

When choosing collaborators, the team look to people who can push and inspire them. ‘Every business needs a point of difference, and having a unique voice is something that tends to resonate well in places where there are a lot of options,’ he says, adding, ‘As the expectations for drinking and dining out have risen, there have been more attempts to differentiate. But these are often copycat moves – the best venues have a USP that is honest and personal to them.’ Chetiyawardana agrees that the financial landscape and pressure on hospitality mean there needs to be more to your experience.

Andy Loudon is director of bars at the Rosewood Hotel in Covent Garden. Rosewood’s Scarfes Bar is uniquely innovative for a hotel bar, with playful themed menus and regular live music. ‘A great cocktail bar should engage all the senses, and live music has the power to transform a room in a way that no design element or drinks menu can,’ says Loudon. ‘Two guests can order the same cocktail on different evenings and have an entirely different experience because of the music, the crowd and the energy in the room.’

Given how competitive bars are today, that experience is essential. ‘The most successful bars understand that hospitality is ultimately about creating memories. That can be through music, storytelling, design, service, education or a sense of community. Guests rarely remember every ingredient in a cocktail, but they will remember how a place made them feel,’ says Loudon.

To survive today, success isn’t only about picking a trend or offering great drinks. Sager says that the best bars have a genuine point of view and hold it consistently. ‘The bars that are struggling are the ones that tried to be everything – great cocktails, great food, great music, great design – without a clear hierarchy of intent. Guests can feel when a venue knows exactly what it is. That coherence is increasingly rare, and increasingly what people seek out.’

Chetiyawardana adds that, as bar owners, it’s important to see one another as peers, not competitors. ‘Hospitality is only in competition with apathy and loneliness, and the more we can show that togetherness is an important factor of happiness, then the better venues do.’

Hoteliers Sean MacPherson and BD Hotels founders Richard Born and Ira Drukier made a name for themselves in New York with independent hotels like Hotel Chelsea, The Bowery Hotel and The Ludlow Hotel. Today, the longtime collaborators will expand their growing boutique hospitality empire outside the five boroughs, with the opening of The Nora Hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida. Having witnessed the wave of Northeast transplants to Palm Beach County since 2020, and the subsequent business boom, the trio saw the opportunity to create a timeless hotel with sophisticated style and an urban chic sensibility.

For the design, Wallpaper* US400-listed Gachot, looked to the romanticism of early 20th-century Palm Beach, particularly the influence of Addison Mizner and the region’s iconic hotels. Rather than referencing a single era, the team wanted the interiors to feel collected and layered over time, with a sense of history, personality and a touch of whimsy.

The result is a luxury hotel that feels endemic to Palm Beach with its palette of pink and green, Spanish Colonial Revival grandeur and the ease of its indoor-outdoor spaces. But one that doesn’t fall into the prints and palm tree South Florida vacation trap. As a seductive counterpoint, the New York-based firm wove in sophisticated neutrals, rich textures and cypress woodwork that bridge the gap between the building’s sunny surroundings and the moodier vibes and distinctively edgy perspective of downtown Manhattan.

'The interplay between nostalgic details and more contemporary elements is what makes it feel so special. There’s a sense of discovery, with unexpected moments and thoughtful details that give each space its own personality,' partners Christine and John Gachot tell Wallpaper*.

Plush custom furniture, hand-selected antiques and an art collection, curated by The Madison Melle Agency, enhances the residential tone across the 201 rooms, including 14 spacious suites with Juliette balconies. The glamorous aesthetic extends to the culinary concepts. On the ground floor, sits Pastis, an offshoot of Keith McNally's mid-aughts Meatpacking institution, brought back to life by James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr. Diners can dig into escargots and French onion soup in an airy space with checkered tile, bistro chairs, lush greenery and soaring ceilings. The sexy lobby bar is envisioned as a place to sip ice-gold martinis under the warm, flattering glow of ambient lighting.

The see-and-be-seen, all-day rooftop concept, Lillys​, created in partnership with Mama Hospitality Group, the team behind Mary Lou’s, comprises a serviced swimming pool flanked by playful fabric umbrellas, a swank lounge for sunset cocktails and a restaurant that brings St. Tropez to South Florida with spiny lobster linguine and herbes de Provence-dusted whole ​grilled ​fish, and, of course, plenty of chilled rosé.

When it’s time to switch off, the full-service Sisley Spa, the first in Florida, offers a soothing atmosphere, a steam room, a lounge, a serene outdoor terrace, and four private treatment rooms for facials powered by the the Parisian brand’s plant-based skincare as well as rejuvenating massages.

The Nora Hotel is located at 1135 North Railroad Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33401, USA

London Fields might best be known as an after-hours destination for dive-bar martinis and small plates, but Circle13 is aiming to bring a new dimension to the area’s social offering. Recently opened by winemaker and cocktail veteran Marc Sarton Du Jonchay (A Bar with Shapes for a Name, New York’s Gage & Tollner) and former international pétanque player Monty Quaia, the space – taking residence in one of Mentmore Terrace’s railway arches – aims to bring the more than 100-year-old French sport to East London, along with an equal focus on Basque cuisine and low and no-ABV highballs.

'Pétanque has always had the reputation of being for older people, and that’s partly true but it’s also slightly unfair to the game because there are lots of subcultures playing and making it their own,' says Quaia. 'London Fields is already one of the hubs of pétanque in London. We're convinced that the future of the game is making it a bit younger, a bit more fun, and appealing to people like us and our friends.'

In keeping with this outlook, Circle13 has been designed with a thoroughly modern aesthetic in mind. Helmed by experiential designer Joseph Stone, whose work spans high-end residential design and product launches for brands including Google and Nike, its interiors have been curated to reflect the visuals of pétanque itself, where silver balls are thrown onto pitches made of gravel or grass.

'The image we’ve based everything on is as though you’re looking down at pétanque balls on a gravel surface. All of the materials have an earthy backdrop with steel cut through; the back of the bar has a sandy tile, but then the bar slices through it,' explains Stone. 'We’ve taken the elements of pétanque and expanded them, riffed off them, and tried to create a contemporary take on them all.'

Though gaming bars are increasingly rife in the city, Circle13 have approached their brand with a notably different ethos. 'The competitive socialising [scene] is great because having an activity makes it less about excessive drinking. But my biggest gripe is that they're generally quite tacky and the activity isn't coming from people that care about it, so it always feels a bit inauthentic,' says Quaia. Instead, the core mantra of Circle13 is “rebellious simplicity”. 'Petanque is so simple and it refuses to be more complicated, so we wanted everything to reflect that,' he continues.

Spatially, that means creating areas – a front seating space with cocktail tables, a bar area with high stools, pétanque pitches both indoors and out, and a secondary arch for events – that work individually but have a 'porosity' between them. 'When you're having a drink in the front area, there are screen breaks [around the pétanque pitch] at head height so you can see the game through them. Then we also worked with our friend Darran Prior from There’s Light on the expanded lighting design. We've tried to hero each area, illuminating the bar so it’s focused on groups of two, and making sure the pétanque pitches have a really nice diffused light so they have a kind of amphitheatre energy,' explains Stone.

'Pétanque can really be quite fun and chic so the idea is that you should have your sexiest picture in the pétanque pitch with the screens around it, with the lighting above when it's soft,' laughs Quaia. 'We want it to be on everyone's Hinge profile and for it to be known for being the place to get you a nice photo taken.'

The space has been designed in a modular fashion, with most features – from the screens around the pétanque pitch to the bar set-up in their second events arch – able to be rearranged depending on the night. Situated down a side road of E8, the frontage of the building has been kept open and welcoming, with floor-to-ceiling glass that allows the warm light of the interior to invite people in. 'We could have easily gone for the speakeasy feel, where you have a door and a single light and, as you go in, the world opens up in front of you. But because of it already being an industrial-feeling street, having that bigger aperture into the space was really important,' says Stone.

Staff uniforms are equally as considered, with plans for an adjacent merch line in place. A former tailor at Paul Smith, Quaia wanted to focus on 'streetwear with a sports background', working with Lithuanian streetwear brand Püga73 to develop a capsule collection of four pieces. 'Petanque has gone through many different phases, from the south of France rich guy with chinos and cigars, into something sporty with tracksuits, but none of them really spoke to us as modern Londoners,' he says.

The 'rebellious simplicity' also extends to their food and drink menu, headed up by Du Jonchay and chef Sean Donnelly. From the kitchen, Basque-centric pintxos are designed for snacking and sharing, featuring a variety of skewers, toasts and croquetas. Their pork belly and date skewer is a best-selling mix of savoury and sweet, while slices of home-baked Basque cheesecake make up their sweet offering.

Though their drinks menu still features ‘hard’ drinks, including a negroni sour and a mezcal toreador – a twist on a margarita using apricot – Circle13 have purposefully prioritised a less potent drinking culture. Here, non-alcoholic drinks are placed front and centre, with the option to add alcohol as a secondary concern. They’re purposefully kept at a very reasonable price point too: non-alcoholic cocktails are all priced at £6, with low-ABV highballs and spritzes coming in at £8.50.

'If you're not drinking, generally everything is based on non-alcoholic spirits which are more expensive in some cases than the boozy version. It makes no sense to us when there are already so many drinks in the world that don't have alcohol in them and are delicious,' Quaia reasons. 'We want it to highlight some of the ridiculousness of the industry, where £20-plus drinks and £8 pints are becoming increasingly more common.'

It all combines to create a venture that feels quietly radical, where a love of pétanque has brought about a new kind of bar, and a different way to socialise. 'We’re going to be launching different programs. We want to have Tuesday takeovers with different young chefs from Michelin kitchens, giving young people a chance to be creative and do something in the same way that we've been given a chance to open the space,' says Quaia. 'Rather than just trying to sell pétanque as a sport, we want it to be a social experience.'

Circle13, 369-370 Mentmore Terrace, London E8 3SD

Imogen Kwok has made a career out of asking food to do unexpected things, with projects including trompe l’œil white chocolate pears for Loewe and a Georg Jensen installation featuring thousands of crystallised edible flowers. Further commissions for Loro Piana, Miu Miu, Hermès and Bulgari have made her one of design’s most sought-after culinary collaborators.

‘In my world, food is natural, beautiful chaos,’ she says. ‘It is defined by its inevitable undoing: constantly changing, unpredictable and irregular. Cooking is my way of carving out a moment of stillness within that, finding beauty just before the first bite, taste or touch.’

Her route into this world was unconventional. Born in Sydney and raised in New York, Kwok studied art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and worked in galleries such as Lehmann Maupin before training at the Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Since settling in London in 2019, she has brought those disciplines together, constructing edible installations that resemble still-life paintings while retaining the flavour and technique of fine dining.

The British capital has proved to be an apt base. ‘Its energy matches the way I approach food,’ says Kwok. ‘There is this layered friction between the highly curated and the beautifully messy. London isn’t one singular vibe; it is a collection of little cities, all put together.’ Each neighbourhood has its own personality, while history and experimentation continually overlap: ‘You push through a crowd, turn a corner and find a pocket of beauty.’ Relocating here also recast her idea of what a chef could be. ‘It gave me the freedom to experiment,’ she says. ‘London let me be who I wanted to be.’

Imogen Kwok’s London

In Holland Park, The Cosmic House embodies the city’s eccentric streak. Charles and Maggie Jencks’ former home is a postmodern cosmos of celestial symbols, its architecture unfolding like an elaborate visual puzzle. ‘It is whimsical and disorientating in a wonderful way, like being inside a dream,’ says Kwok.

St James’s Dover Street Market is Kwok’s answer to wardrobe panic. ‘I tend to go there because I know I’m going to find something I love,’ she says. Nearby, Gallery Fumi speaks directly to her own practice, with a programme centring on designers who consider the process of making and the emotional life of a material. ‘That is the way I see food as well,’ says Kwok.

For dinner, Kwok chooses Mountain, Tomos Parry’s Soho restaurant. ‘It isn’t pretentious or fussy. The food is incredibly tasty,’ she says. ‘Tomos is known for fire-grilled fish and meat, yet there is also a very delicate hand in the way he handles ingredients.’

In south-east London, Eltham Palace stages the kind of historical collision Kwok values in the city. Built alongside the surviving Great Hall of a medieval royal palace is a 1930s art deco mansion, fusing several centuries into one improbable address. ‘I only discovered it recently, and it is very special,’ she says.

Her final choice takes her east to Cafe Oto in Dalston, a daytime restaurant that turns into a live music venue after dark. ‘They have a genuinely original programme,’ says Kwok. Like London itself, its appeal lies in the unexpected combinations.

Kwok particularly loves London in spring. ‘The sky fills with colour and light, and the streets teem with people, basking in the sun and drinking,’ says Kwok. ‘It makes winter worth enduring.’ And if London had a taste? ‘Creamy and briny.’

According to Imogen...

What is the best month to visit London? The end of June or early July. Or whenever it’s hottest, although that is unpredictable.

What should one wear to blend in? A chic hat – although that is probably better for standing out.

Favourite Londoner? Daniel Day-Lewis. Perhaps because I’ve just watched a run of his films.

What is the best way to make friends? Start a conversation with a stranger and stick with it. Londoners open up eventually.

Where is the best place to misbehave? Hackney.

For more recommendations, buy our London Travel Guide.

Film by Zack Melluish

A low house of aluminium panels and folded steel stands among the olives and pines below Saint-Paul-de-Vence, its long window turned to the ramparts above. The hill town is in view from every room; Chagall is buried up there, and at La Colombe d’Or they still hang the pictures its painters handed over in place of the bill. Jean Prouvé drew the house in 1958, with his son Claude, for a notary at Epfig, in the Alsace vineyards, 700km north.

Tour Maison Prouvé 58

Maison Prouvé 58 came south by a route that would have pleased its maker. Hubert Bonnet bought the house in December 2021, by then due for demolition at Epfig, had it dismantled through 2022 and the parts sent to Nancy for restoration, with the Prouvé historian Catherine Coley consulted on the rescue before it was raised again on the grass here. Two bedrooms in 115 square metres, a kitchen opening onto the lawn, the metal shell lined in wood and stone. A Prouvé desk and daybed, Charlotte Perriand’s Nuage shelving, cabinets by Le Corbusier, pieces by George Nakashima, none of it roped off. ‘In Prouvé’s work, the structure never hides,’ says Bonnet. ‘It becomes the very language of the object or the architecture.’

Trained at a forge in Nancy, Prouvé worked from the proposition that a building is a sum of parts that can be improved one joint at a time, which was tested in the worst conditions imaginable. After the bombing of Lorraine, Raoul Dautry, de Gaulle’s minister of reconstruction, ordered 800 demountable houses of six metres by six, the answer being a frame with panels that three people could raise in a day. Some 400 left the workshops, most broken up once permanent housing caught up. The survivors became collectable for the very quality that had made them useful, coming apart as readily as they went up. By Design Miami/Basel in 2007, Galerie Patrick Seguin had a Prouvé desk at €200,000, one of the 1944 houses, built for the homeless, at €280,000; Seguin and Laffanour now ask nearer €1m for one. The house at Saint-Paul came later, from a gentler need, drawn for a client instead of an emergency, one of five that CAB counts between 1958 and 1961, two of them now gone.

Bonnet bought his first Donald Judd in 1990 and has collected minimal and conceptual art ever since, with the dealer François Laffanour turning him towards the furniture. The houses came afterwards, as somewhere to put it all, a dozen of them now under the name Les Maisons CAB. At Knokke, on the Belgian coast, Le Paquebot is a 1936 villa by the modernist Louis-Herman De Koninck, furnished with Aalto beneath a Sol LeWitt wall drawing. Above Lake Geneva, Les Ailes is a 1930s house with Perriand chairs, a living room reworked by India Mahdavi. There is a chalet at Verbier, a house on Panarea, another inside the walls at Essaouira, a fourth on the Dominican coast at Las Terrenas in white polished concrete by Marc Corbiau, its Nordic furniture gone pale in the sun and salt, and an apartment on rue Jacob in Saint-Germain. The art is hung for guests, who have it to themselves; Bonnet would rather the houses were lived in than looked after.

The mas behind the Prouvé has not been restored as a period piece; the interiors were designed and furnished throughout by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Beams overhead, terracotta underfoot, vaulted ground-floor rooms open onto the garden; against the stone hang works by Viallat, Saytour, Dolla and Dezeuze, the Supports/Surfaces painters who took their canvases off the stretcher around Nice in the late 1960s. Outside, 3,881 square metres of grounds, a 1980s pool whose long wall carries a Claudia Comte mural. Seven bedrooms across the property make a celebration of almost any size possible; artists have been at work and at play on this hillside for a century, and the Prouvé is an invitation to keep the party going.

The village is twelve minutes up the hill on foot and Fondation CAB eight, with a restaurant, a sculpture garden and galleries given over to residencies through the winter; Fondation Maeght and its Giacomettis a little further on. Places like those, or a dealer’s, are usually where a Prouvé house ends up. The few turned into somewhere to stay include one at Château La Coste, the art and architecture estate near Aix, and now this one.

Bonnet’s reasons for letting them are practical enough: the foundation has to be paid for, the collection otherwise sitting in storage instead of alive on the walls of a house where somebody is having breakfast. He finds hotels clinical, checking you in at three and out at eleven at triple the price of a decade ago, preferring that people have the run of a place, at their own pace. The luxury is time, and the pieces you spend it among. ‘I find that normal, to share design, art,’ he says. ‘Life is short. I have to make the best of it.’

Bonnet is not much good at stopping; by his own account, he is the quickest visitor in any museum, and he has stayed in every house he has made, if only for two nights. He has slept often in the 6x6 that stands in the foundation’s garden, a small thing beside this one, the first Prouvé he could imagine properly living in, and means to take at least a week here with a few books and the phone switched off. ‘I love to be stuck,’ he laughs. ‘Once you are stuck, there is no way around it. You start to think differently.’

Maison Prouvé 58 and Le Clos du Père François are let together through Les Maisons CAB, rates on request. ‘Jean Prouvé, inventeur de maisons’, organised with Laffanour Galerie Downtown, runs at Fondation CAB, Saint-Paul-de-Vence. lesmaisonscab.com; fondationcab.com

For a chef whose restaurant, Osip, is rooted in the Somerset harvest, Merlin Labron-Johnson keeps an enviable itinerary. When we catch up, he has just returned from a French road trip, and is head to Athens and Tokyo next. It’s often work that takes him abroad, but he makes time for a few extra days for himself, following friends’ recommendations and stopping at an unassuming bar for a cold beer along the way.

It is a familiar rhythm for the Devon-born chef, whose early career took him through kitchens in Switzerland, France and Belgium before he earned London’s Portland its first Michelin star at the age of 24. In 2019, he opened Osip in Bruton, establishing the connection between farm and kitchen that we profiled on our Work in Process video series. His latest project, Pharmacy Field Kitchen, takes that approach outdoors. Developed with Zsuzsanna Toth and Marc Ackland, joint head chefs at his sister restaurant The Pharmacy, it brings together farm dinners and private events, with opportunities for guests to pick some of the produce they will eat.

Labron-Johnson’s travels also feed into his life back in Somerset, from the dishes he cooks at home – Japanese rice, dhal and biryani – to a particularly good pair of scissors he picked up in Japan. For this edition of ‘In Transit’, the chef discusses travelling light, the things he likes to bring back, and why he feels at home in Japan.

How Merlin Labron-Johnson travels

Wallpaper*: What’s your earliest travel memory – and can you remember what you ate?

Merlin Labron-Johnson: All my earliest travel memories are in France, as that’s the only place I went [overseas] until I was 16. I remember the smell of supermarkets, pungent cheeses, freshly baked bread from the boulangerie and peach iced tea.

W*: What role does travel play in your life?

MLJ: I am fortunate to travel a lot through my work, and it is this constant exploration that keeps me inspired and stimulated. It has also given me a renewed appreciation of where I live, which is rural Somerset. I like the juxtaposition of the two worlds. I don’t do many conventional holidays, though; it’s almost always work with a few extra days tagged on.

W*: What attracts you to a destination?

MLB: Well, the food is obviously a very important factor. If I suspect the food isn’t good, then I’m less inclined to visit, but it is also the people, the architecture, the colours, the climate and the thrill of the unknown.

W*: What’s the most unnecessary thing you always bring ‘just in case’ – and the most essential?

MLB: I travel light, bringing as little as possible. I’ll always have my laptop and phone, of course. Comfortable clothes. A notebook. A wash bag. That’s about it. However, I have started to make a habit of bringing small gifts to offer to friends, hosts and colleagues. Especially if I’m going to Japan!

W*: Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met on a trip?

MLB: My guide from my last trip to the Himalayas: Pujan. A wonderful host, with many diverse talents and the most extraordinary knowledge. We keep in touch.

W*: What’s the best thing you’ve ever brought back from a trip?

MLB: Kitchen tools from Japan, which I use every day. Beautiful handmade urushi chopsticks, good scissors and a mottled steel side ladle.

W*: Do you tend to capture moments when you travel?

MLJ: I capture a lot. I take hundreds of photos and videos. I like to share my discoveries and, of course, keep a record of where I’ve been and what I’ve done.

W*: Which place in the world feels most like you?

MLJ: So far, Japan is the place that has resonated with me the most. Everything makes me happy and seems to suit my tastes.

W*: Which place has changed your approach to cooking or hospitality?

MLJ: Japan, Mexico and India.

W*: Is there a meal from your travels that you still return to in your own cooking?

MLJ: Well-cooked Japanese rice, dhal and biryani.

W*: When you arrive somewhere new, where do you go first to get a feel for how people eat?

MLJ: I’ll usually take a recommendation from a friend or a knowledgeable local. It could be a bar, bistro, tavern or roadside café; it really depends on the country!

According to Merlin...

Window or aisle? ‘Window.’

Early flight or last flight of the day? ‘I think I prefer an evening flight, so as to wake up the following day in a new location feeling refreshed.’

Overpack or underpack? ‘Underpack. I like to travel light.’

Plan everything or arrive and figure it out? ‘A mixture of both: plan some things, leave room for spontaneity.’

Go-to travel snack? ‘Onigiri.’

Who’s always on your playlist? ‘Leonard Cohen.’

Last place you travelled to – and where next? ‘France, for a road trip. Next stop Athens, and then directly on to Tokyo.’

Your ideal row on a long-haul flight – who’s sitting with you? ‘Ideally nobody. I would appreciate the peace and quiet and the extra room!’

osiprestaurant.com

thepharmacybruton.com

Following the success of their Paris café-cum-bistro Le Cornichon, Bertrand Chauveau and Paul Henri introduce Le Poisson Volant, a restaurant and nightclub in the former L’International in the 11th arrondissement. The pair have reunited with Claves Architecture for interiors that draw on Art Deco and the nocturnal world of Wong Kar-wai.

Le Cornichon’s sequel takes Paris into the early hours

‘We wanted to open a late-night haunt where people could eat late, talk and dance around a table, in an environment that felt out of the ordinary,’ the founders say. They found a home for that vision in L’International, an established rock and punk venue between Oberkampf, Belleville and Ménilmontant. ‘Our aim is for the space to evolve in response to what the guests want and to remain a place of freedom, with flexible codes.’

The childhood friends took inspiration from London’s Brilliant Corners, a Japanese restaurant and listening bar in Dalston known for its vinyl DJ sets, and New York’s former China Chalet, where a Chinese dining room doubled as a late-night party venue. Closer to home, they looked to the restaurants of Belleville and the 13th arrondissement as places where different communities came together. Among their favourites was La Bénédiction, a Chinese restaurant with consistently good cooking and loyal regulars.

Chauveau, who trained at Ferrandi and worked with Jean-François Piège and David Toutain, developed the menu with chef Yanxin Yin. Originally from Tsingtao, Yin studied in Xi’an and Lanzhou, specialising in noodles, dumplings and Peking duck, before working with Bao Family in France. The menu spans pork and chive potstickers, steamed aubergine with chilli and herbs, and braised chicken with vin jaune and black mushrooms. Their backgrounds meet most clearly in wontons served with pig’s trotter and langoustine tartare.

Claves founders Laure Gravier and Soizic Fougeront have taken an equally expansive approach to the interiors, completely reworking the building behind a frontage that recalls a traditional Chinese restaurant. Inside, a new grid of columns and beams defines the spaces, drawing on Brutalism and the neighbourhood’s industrial architecture, while large mirrors echo these lines and extend views across the rooms.

Art Deco patterns painted in silver animate the walls and structural elements, while high-backed chairs inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh add slender verticals to the sturdy geometry. An oval bar in patinated steel anchors the room, surrounded by purple-brown walls, patterned carpet and hand-painted mirrors. Saturated colour, low lighting and fractured perspectives evoke the films of Wong Kar-wai – what the studio calls ‘an imaginary Shanghai by night’, unbound by any particular era.

In addition, a commissioned work by Chinese artist Shuo Hao traces the staircase down to the basement club, where an aquarium filled with mineral compositions conceals a private room, recalling Pierre Huyghe’s installations. Reflections and artificial light carry through from upstairs, while the lack of street views makes it easy to lose track of the hour.

With no natural light, the ceiling becomes a canvas for Matière Noire’s luminous panels, set within the architectural grid and supported by concealed lighting. As dinner gives way to DJ sets, the lighting shifts from a diffuse glow to strobes. Sound received the same attention: the founders worked with FLEiK to ensure consistent acoustic quality throughout the venue.

At Le Poisson Volant, Chauveau and Paul Henri programme the music themselves, inviting figures from the Paris scene to establish residencies and bring in guest artists and DJs. Both floors are designed to work together. ‘It is not inherently a club, but it becomes one through the way it is used,’ they say. Dinner is served daily from 7 pm to midnight, with the entire venue becoming a nightclub until 5 am from Thursday to Saturday.

Le Poisson Volant is located at 5 Rue Marguerite Moret, 75011 Paris, France

In Ojai, an understated bohemian town about 90 minutes from Los Angeles, you’ll find El Roblar – a 1919 Spanish Revival property recently reopened as a 50-room hotel after half a century largely closed to the public.

The project brings together an interesting cast of collaborators, among them Eric Goode, the entrepreneur behind New York's Bowery Hotel, and Ramin Shamshiri of Studio Shamshiri. Together with restaurateur Warner Ebbink (LA's Little Dom's) and filmmaker Jeremy McBride (Tiger King, Chimp Crazy), they've set about returning one of Ojai's oldest landmarks to its former role in the town.

‘We didn't want to do another designer hotel,’ explains McBride. ‘We found the original 1919 drawings early on, and we worked from those with a lot of collaborators on everything from the entry arch to the stone fireplace. More than anything, we wanted the town to feel like it was theirs again.’

What’s on your doorstep?

El Roblar is located on Ojai’s main street of independent shops, but the centre is all incredibly walkable. Opposite, you’ll find beloved local restaurants Rory’s Place and Rory’s Other Place, the latter of which has drawn a TikTok crowd for its famed matcha affogato. If you’re keen to swing by, do so early; on both days we visited, they’d sold out of sandwiches and salads by lunchtime.

Adjacent is the recently revamped Ojai Playhouse, a 1914 single-screen movie theatre which still offers select films on 35mm. Fun fact: David Lynch’s personal espresso machine resides in the lobby.

A short walk away is Libbey Bowl, an outdoor music venue with impressive programming (Cat Power and Big Thief were scheduled during our stay). And you’re just a quick drive from hiking trails, creeks and even a turtle conservancy, run by the hotel’s co-owner, Eric Goode: reception can arrange a visit.

Who is behind the design?

Ramin Shamshiri has worked alongside Goode and McBride on the interiors, filling the hotel with an extraordinary collection of art, antiques and objects. More than 1,000 pieces have been assembled across the property, much of it sourced from local estate sales and dealers.

The walls are a particular delight, hung with Western landscapes, wildlife studies and all manner of curiosities. Goode has contributed pieces from his own collection, amassed over several decades, while the owners spent months tracking down condor-related prints, stamps and other ephemera for the hotel's restaurant. More on that later.

Elsewhere, an informal 'Ojai Hall of Fame' pays tribute to the town's more illustrious residents and regulars, from outdoor pioneers Yvon Chouinard and Rick Ridgeway to the late actress Diane Ladd. It's a reminder of the rather eclectic crowd this small Californian town has attracted over the years.

The lobby features a distinctive mural by 1980s artist Stefano Castronovo – a contemporary of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat – depicting the natural history of the Ojai Valley (spot the friendly T Rex). Elsewhere, the Mariposa Ballroom houses an elaborate hand-carved wall relief of the region's flora and fauna, restored by local craftspeople.

The details extend beyond the artwork: Mexican artisans in Guadalajara supplied the clay pots, ironwork and hand-painted animal tiles that decorate each bungalow.

The lighting is equally considered, lending the interiors a moody atmosphere. 'Most hotels are overlit. We wanted it to feel like being in someone's house at night, warm and low,’ explains McBride. ‘We brought in Sean O'Connor to help us dial in the lighting plan. It's mostly lamps, sconces and picture lights, all on dimmers.’

The room to book

Accommodation is divided between 31 rooms in the main building, 11 bungalows and eight in the newly built Sycamore House, which is available to hire in its entirety. The bungalows, with their generous private patios and kitchenettes, are probably the most appealing choice for anyone looking for a little seclusion (Bungalow 11 has its own Koi pond) while many of the main building's rooms also open onto garden terraces.

It's the little design details that make El Roblar unique, from the cowboy-hat brass key fob to the Monterey-style furnishings. Each room features a custom-embroidered Pendleton blanket and hand-carved birds that perch above the bed.

Lather products are found in the bathroom, alongside cosy organic striped robes from Autumn Sonata.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The Condor Bar is the hotel’s main restaurant (La Cocina is the more relaxed space for breakfast and lunch). A continental breakfast of bread, jams and cold meats and cheeses is included with each room and hot breakfast is available at an extra charge.

In the Condor Bar, where umpteen condor-related artworks adorn the walls, the fare is California-inspired, grouped into a seafood and raw menu (tuna tostada is a winner), salads, and grilled dishes. The restaurant takes its name from the endangered California condor, whose recovery efforts have centred partly on the nearby Sespe wilderness. 'We filled the room with condor images, old banknotes and bird skulls in shadowboxes,' explains McBride. 'Kind of like an old natural history museum.'

Chef Brandon Boudet oversees a menu that makes good use of local produce and a Santa Maria-style wood-fired grill. I choose the miso salmon, with a subtle sweetness that plays beautifully against the natural richness of the fish. Summer corn is an elevated take on Mexican street corn, and be sure to save room for tres leches cake or churros y chocolate for dessert.

The Snug lobby bar is a cosy spot for a pre-dinner drink or a nightcap.

Where to switch off

By the pool, with the Topatopa mountains in the distance and soundtracked by a fitting playlist of modern indie and Americana (Pavement, David Allan Coe, Warren Zevon…). Six cabanas and sage-green umbrellas surround the water, while the nearby mountains turn pink in the late afternoon light. A modest on-site gym has space for one or two guests to work out and the hotel has plans to open a spa in 2027.

Elsewhere in the grounds, you'll find local heroes Abra and Cadabra: two giant Aldabra tortoises visiting from Goode's Turtle Conservancy. They make for rather unusual hotel residents, but seem perfectly at home.

The Verdict

El Roblar is the crown jewel in Ojai’s sleepy creative scene, with a sense of character that owes as much to the personalities behind it as to the building's history. With a carefully curated collection of objets that pay homage to the local area and community, El Roblar is a manifestation of Ojai's individualist spirit, with all the little luxuries that allow some welcome R&R from the big city.

El Roblar, 122 E Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA 93023

Not too long ago, Daniel Humm got a text: ‘I’M FREAKING OUT,’ it read, in all caps. The note was from Italian artist Francesco Clemente, whom Humm – one of the world’s most acclaimed chefs – had commissioned to paint the ceiling of his first-ever standalone Manhattan restaurant.

The friends had collaborated on plenty of projects before. There were the hand-painted murals at Clemente Bar, the enveloping lounge tucked into the second floor of Eleven Madison Park, Humm’s three-Michelin star restaurant, not to mention cherished personal works like Humm’s own portrait and a painting that the chef used to propose to his wife. But this project, a 1,200 sq ft fresco, may have been a bridge – or at least scaffold – too far. ‘For like three weeks he didn't speak to me,’ Humm jokes.

Still, Clemente pressed on with the painstaking task. Over the course of two months, the vast tray ceilings came alive with whimsical images of stars, animals, trains and ticking clocks – one mesmerising allegory for passing time. Indeed, clocks seem to stop within the transporting interior of Humm, which opens to diners for the first time 10 October. Nearly two years in the making, the restaurant marks its namesake chef’s most personal project yet. ‘This place was really created by my friends,’ Humm says.

‘My friends are my story. [I wanted] to create a home, and you keep things in your home that are personal to you. Working with people that are in my life seemed like the way to do it,’ the chef adds.

As soon as you enter Humm, located in the former EN Japanese Brasserie space on Hudson Street, that convivial feeling is already apparent. Just beyond the host stand, a red textured sculpture designed by Rashid Johnson, you catch a glimpse of a roaring wood fire, contained in a monumental tile-clad oven that sprouts from the open-plan kitchen like a tree trunk. ‘I said, I want to open the door and I want to see the fire,’ Humm says.

No surprise, another friend brought Humm’s vision to life: New York and Paris-based designer Pierre Yovanovitch. ‘The thing is, it’s very hard to work with Daniel because his taste is better than anyone,’ Yovanovitch says. ‘His house is so nice. Every detail, every piece of furniture, every piece of art, I want to take.’

The project marked Yovanovitch’s first New York restaurant, so the city was naturally his muse, alongside Humm’s vision of elevated, wood-fired cuisine, and Clemente’s vibrant ceilings. So the designer got to work translating the colours and shapes in the artwork, as well as the spirit of Manhattan, into each space.

The 5,000 sq ft space unfolds as a series of soaring rooms. At the front of the house, you can choose to have drinks in a light-filled bar with space for about 30 guests, or opt to sink into mustard-coloured velvet banquette in a more intimate burgundy-doused lounge opposite the maître d' stand. The playful language of postmodernism is a clear touchpoint throughout, as is the theatre of New York’s grand hotels, like the Carlyle. In the bar, for instance, geometric tables and chairs evoke the towers of Philip Johnson and Kevin Roche, with a dash of Sex and the City for good measure. ‘Sometimes you miss the spirit of New York in new design,’ Yovanovitch says. ‘I wanted to go back, but not a pastiche.’

The primary dining space, flanked by a lively open kitchen, though, is Humm’s pièce de résistance. Yovanovitch brought the hues and shapes of Clemente’s murals down to the diners, through saturated hues like gold and burgundy, and contrasts in textures and materials. Lacquered red partitions create more intimate zones – where diners will encounter comforting dishes like charcoal-grilled fish and roast chicken for two – while table lamps and frosted glass chandeliers accentuate the residential feel. Clemente’s Sistine Chapel-worthy artwork will have guests looking up, but Yovanovitch created a surprise underfoot as well: intricate stone floors are bordered with the same whimsical creatures found in Clemente’s painting.

Art, as in Eleven Madison Park and Clemente Bar, is another throughline. Guests will discover works by Louise Bourgeois and Roni Horn in corners. Yovanovitch’s interiors are equally artful, as with a scenic tile mural that evokes a dreamy sunset landscape; a red acoustical ‘mushroom’ light fixture that hovers above the lounge; and twisting rope-like tablebases. More works by Clemente can be found, including in a private dining room, swaddled in a fabric tent.

‘It's a labour of love,’ Humm says, reflecting on his collaborators. ‘Because we all respect each other, everyone rises higher together. I think that's what I feel has happened.’

Clemente’s freakout, as a matter of fact, turned out to be a good thing: ‘I saw the room with the lights and almost everything in place,’ the artist typed, ‘and it's beyond.’

Humm is located at 435 Hudson Street New York, NY, 10014, USA

Chris D’Sylva has been taking over Notting Hill, one food business at a time, since 2019: first with Smart Grocers, the Fish + Meat Shop and Supermarket of Dreams, then with Dorian Bistro and Eel Sushi. At Nakimushi, he’s stuck to Japanese but dropped the sushi and entrusted the £2m townhouse conversion to the two chefs running the place. Robin Kosuge and Yuji Shimokawa Kelly made a name for themselves with the Robin’s Ramen and Urchin residencies respectively and now share a permanent home at Nakimushi, just off Notting Hill Gate, with ramen at street level and a wider-ranging Japanese menu upstairs.

Wallpaper* dines at Nakimushi, London

The mood: Tokyo in a Kensington terrace

Jack Architecture & Design, the London practice founded in 2020 by Jonathan Richardson, has combined a spare Japanese sensibility with British heritage details. The original brick façade survives, with the shopfront painted oxblood and a noren curtain hung above the door. The deep red carries through all three floors in hand-glazed Kit Kat tiles and the leather banquettes lining the walls. Everywhere else is brushed pine, with parquet underfoot and brass around the edges: check out the clever little table lamps which can be unscrewed and repositioned.

‘We wanted to move away from the identity of sushi restaurants,’ explains Shimokawa Kelly. ‘The hinoki you get in most of them has a very cold feeling to it. It’s much more enjoyable to eat in a warm environment, because the food looks better – and so do the guests and the staff.’

The open kitchen takes up half the ground floor, kitted out with a built-to-order grill to handle proper robata. A men bako – the box a ramen shop keeps its noodles in – has been made by a friend of Kosuge’s, carrying his Japanese nickname where the noodle factory’s name would usually go.

The other half is occupied by a central communal table and more seats by the window; upstairs is the calmer 25-seat dining room and a tiled bar. Look out for the glass-walled cold room by the stairs to the loos, where whole ducks and Ibérico Duroc pork are hung to age.

The food: Ramen and then some

Downstairs is designed for in-and-out quick eats of ramen such as Kosuge's signature chashu pork belly bowl, a Basque chicken broth with noodles cut to his own wheat-and-rye specification by Komugi Noodles in Manchester, and a ramen egg steeped in Yorkshire Tea and soy.

Upstairs is meant for a more leisurely exploration of a menu that, like Kosuge and Yuji Shimokawa Kelly, is half Japanese, half London. Corn tempura arrives wrapped in a crackling sheet of nori and dusted with salt made from fig leaves foraged a few streets away. There is quail tempura with apricot purée and a jerk-spiked tendashi dipping sauce, and a taco – ‘tako’ being Japanese for ‘octopus’ – whose buckwheat shell is enriched with fat left over from rendering the ramen’s chicken, the octopus brined and grilled under red pepper and plum. And you can order ramen up here, too.

It’s serious Japanese food for people who don’t take what they eat too seriously – the karaage tastes like the best chicken nugget in west London – but do care about the deliciousness of what they put in their mouth, whether that’s a luscious grilled Ibérico pork loin with an umami kiss of red almond miso, or a glass of aged junmai saké brewed to a recipe from 1703.

Nakimushi is located at 7 Kensington Mall, London W8 4EB, United Kingdom

New York-based designer Marla Aaron is an unapologetic overpacker, with her jewellery travelling much as she does. The pieces she wears at home come with her, including a platinum and diamond chain and lock. ‘It’s one of those things that is an absolute indulgence, but it’s discreet, so perfect for everywhere,’ she tells Wallpaper*. Where to put it all is a design question she has been exploring with jewellery-storage specialist Wolf, a collaboration whose latest instalment makes a pleasure of packing things away.

Following the Everything and Baby Everything boxes, the Some of the Things Box turns that shared fascination with compartments and mechanisms into a compact travel case.

The lacquered wooden exterior unfolds to reveal brass hooks with pockets, snap-fastened ring rolls, a zipped compartment and an envelope-style section, each accessed by its own small ritual. Wolf’s LusterLoc-treated ultrasuede lining helps protect jewellery against tarnishing, while the exterior comes in Chocolate, Vanilla, Navy, Tomato and Bubblegum. Priced at £435, the case launches in London on 16 October and in the US on 20 October.

Aaron has already adopted it for her own collection, describing the act of travelling with her jewellery as ‘a delicious experience’. To mark the launch, she joins Wallpaper* for the latest edition of In Transit, our interview series exploring the travel habits and philosophies of creative minds.

How Marla Aaron travels

What’s your earliest travel memory?

‘When I was five, my mother and I travelled from New York to Los Angeles to see my aunt, and it was still the era when you dressed for travel. She took me to Bergdorf Goodman to pick a travel outfit, and it was the most perfect purple wool coat with a matching hat and a purple dress underneath. I wouldn’t take off the coat, and I got sick on the plane twice and never wore it again.’

What role does travel play in your life?

‘I travel a lot for work, and my family doesn’t live in New York, so I am a traveller. I view my time in transit (on planes or trains) as “me” time. I doomscroll, watch movies I love, read books… I rarely work when I am in transit, and I like it this way.’

What attracts you to a destination?

‘Anything. I’ve met someone, eaten something or read about something from that place, and I’m in.’

Do you pack for who you are, or who you think you’ll become on that trip?

‘Who I am, always. The latter is a terrible idea.’

What’s the most unnecessary thing you always bring ‘just in case’ – and the most essential?

‘It’s the same thing. I call it “the sick pouch”, and it includes anything and everything I could need if I get sick in a place other than home – all kinds of medicine, plasters, teabags. What you don’t want is to get sick in a place that is very foreign to you and have to negotiate a pharmacy in another language when you are alone and unwell. Been there, done that, so I am ready for anything.’

What’s one garment, accessory or beauty tip you always rely on when travelling?

‘An extra sweater, an extra layer of moisture (I love Pixi Moisture Sticks), a small, wonderful bag that can be used for something a bit dressy and also during the day. I love this Joseph Duclos bag.’

Do you have a travel habit – something you do every time, wherever you are, even if it’s irrational?

‘I like to have breakfast in bed when I’m travelling. Even if there is the most fantastic breakfast awaiting me elsewhere, I have breakfast in my room, with coffee before I get dressed. I am cranky if anything else happens.’

Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met while travelling?

‘On a flight between Palm Beach and New York, I sat next to the Zimbabwean jeweller Patrick Mavros, and he is the loveliest guy. He then visited my showroom in New York. I don’t really talk to strangers on planes, but Patrick was insistent… He even told me afterwards how rude I was for being so unwilling to engage, and I guess he was right! He’s a lovely guy, and he taught me a lesson about being open to that. I mean, what are the odds that two jewellery designers are seated next to each other?’

What’s the best thing you’ve ever brought back from a trip?

‘A small stool that I carried back from a trip to Africa when I was 22 years old. It has pride of place in my living room to this day, after multiple homes in multiple countries.’

What’s a place that changed the way you think, or taught you something lasting?

‘I was an exchange student in a village in Argentina for a year when I was 17 years old, and it fundamentally changed who I am as a person for the better. I can’t imagine what I would have been like otherwise!’

Which place in the world feels most like you?

‘Of course, New York. I’ve been to many places around the world, but it is New York for me forever.’

According to Marla...

Journey or destination? ‘I am always on the journey.’

Window or aisle? ‘Aisle on a plane, window on the train.’

Early flight or last flight of the day? ‘No preference.’

Overpack or underpack? ‘Overpack, always.’

Plan everything or arrive and figure it out? ‘Arrive and figure it out, but maybe with a couple of solid notions of what to do.’

Go-to travel snack? ‘Whatever is being served on the plane. I am not picky at all. I may have a bag of snacks, but literally, it will be birdseed, and I will forsake it for whatever else is being served.’

Who’s always on your playlist? ‘Maruja Limón, Bach, whatever my son tells me I should be listening to – he regularly shares his playlists with me.’

marlaaaron.com

The over-saturation of Italian restaurants in New York's West Village has reached almost comical levels. So news that Catch Hospitality Group – behind the exclusive The Corner Store, Or'esh and The Eighty Six – was bringing a coastal French brasserie concept by chef Jake Tyler Brodsky to the neighbourhood’s narrow, brownstone-lined streets was warmly welcomed. Barely a month into operation, and similarly to its predecessors, Cafe Charmant is already the hottest reservation in town: Paul McCartney, Tom Holland and Matt Damon were all in the dining room on one crisp, early-autumn Tuesday evening.

Wallpaper* dines at Cafe Charmant

The mood: Decadently nonchalant

For its fourth dining concept in New York, the Catch team turned to longtime collaborators Rockwell Group to transform the former Saint Theo’s space on Bleecker Street. Cafe Charmant’s interiors veer away from the dark, members’ club-like feel of the other Catch locations. Instead, the space is washed in a champagne hue that lightens the overall aesthetic and creates a more casual, day-to-night setting. Warm, even lighting and oxblood-red accents still ensure that the space feels seductive and indulgent.

Outside, the restaurant’s name glows in neon above a yellow-painted exterior and awning, which surround curtain-shrouded windows that maintain the privacy of those inside. Stepping off Bleecker Street, past the heavy red velvet curtains, a spacious, softly lit foyer welcomes guests almost like a theatre lobby. Another curtain – for extra dramatic effect – reveals the main dining space beyond. Here, brasserie trademarks set a familiar Parisian scene, such as steam-bent wooden dining chairs, leather-wrapped booths, coloured-glass table lamps and antique mirrors. Hints of New York peek through in the choices of dark wood, Art Deco-influenced pendant lights above the bar and a ceiling clad in decorative tin panels – each perforated with thousands of holes and concealing acoustic buffering to ensure conversations below can be easily heard, but not overheard.

The 70-seat restaurant manages to feel intimate yet spacious at once. Tables aren’t on top of one another, as they typically are in most West Village joints, and there’s plenty of room for servers to circulate uninhibitedly. But there’s still plenty of bustle and atmosphere, so it doesn’t feel awkward to strike up a conversation with the next table.

The food: Invigorated classics

'A coastal take on the classic NYC French brasserie', as it’s billed, doesn’t quite do justice to the inventive dishes composed by chef Jake Tyler Brodsky, who cut his teeth at Eleven Madison Park. Along with beverage director Lucas Robinson and wine director Emily Buse, the team has created a variety of clever spins on perennial brasserie favourites. Take the spicy moules gratin and razor clam pasta as examples. Meanwhile, the quality of the 30oz côte de boeuf bone-in ribeye requires no deviation from the original.

Subtle infusions of Caribbean flavours across the menu undoubtedly arose from chef Jake’s time spent in the Cayman Islands. The Curry Duck Pastel, a samosa-style bite, is filled with duck blended with spices and homemade coconut milk, and served with a sweet-tangy chutney. Another unexpected flavour reveals itself in the crispy shrimp Polynesian, which adds a hint of sansho – a Japanese numbing spice that the chef brought home from Tokyo – to the tropical sauce. Diners will have to wait until next summer for the return of the anchovy-laced Heirloom Tomato salad dusted with Mahón cheese, as the menu changes seasonally based on what’s available at the farmers’ market.

It was genuinely difficult to choose from the cocktail menu. Highlights include the refreshing vodka-based cucumber sour, beautifully decorated with slices laid like fish scales up the side of the glass. This was an ideal accompaniment to both the zesty, lime-drizzled diver scallop crudo and citrusy, marmalade-mixed maidai crudo. And while cocktail pairings with the dishes aren’t necessarily prescribed, several more matched perfectly with one another. The pear and honey martini, served with a sidecar and a slice of honeycomb for extra sweetness between sips, complements the light glaze over the tuna 'Charmant' tartare. And the peppery notes in the bar’s Negroni variation elevate the sauce accompanying the steak frites – a beloved staple on any brasserie menu.

Dessert options include a decadent Chocolate Mousse Service, which brings a giant ellipsoid scoop and a trio of toppings to mix and match, and a tangy lemon meringue posset handsomely presented in a silver coupe. Both the pain au chocolat old fashioned and a wonderfully hazelnutty espresso martini are a perfect end to the meal and start to the rest of the night – this crowd is definitely going out after dinner.

Cafe Charmant is located at 340 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014, USA

The flowers at Coworth Park have found some unexpected places to settle. They are suspended in resin tabletops, pressed into clay for bathroom reliefs and drawn across linen-covered walls. For the redesign of the Berkshire hotel’s stable rooms, suites and cottages, Martin Hulbert Design has made the estate’s wildflower meadows a recurring presence, down to the dried specimens gathered from its grounds.

Set within 240 acres of parkland near Ascot, Dorchester Collection’s country retreat offers Londoners an appealing change of scenery, with polo fields, a spa and Adam Smith’s exquisite culinary proposal at Woven. Its latest renovation marks a homecoming for Hulbert, whose studio was established during the creation of Coworth Park’s original interiors over 15 years ago. Returning alongside design directors Jay Grierson and Emma Webster, he has approached the project with an affection for what was already there.

Martin Hulbert Design revisits Coworth Park’s stable suites and cottages

‘The brief was clear: build on the legacy of Coworth Park’s past, while shaping it for the future,’ says Hulbert. That continuity is evident in the rooms, where existing oak floors and freshly painted wardrobes accompany new joinery details in storm-fallen walnut. Much of the leather upholstery has also been reused, its saddlery associations particularly apt for an estate with an established equestrian life. Hulbert describes the interiors as ‘a palimpsest where traditional craftsmanship and modern tools exist, and the previous eras are still subtly visible’.

Against this familiar backdrop, the new furnishings introduce the colours of the changing seasons. Spring yellows and autumnal shades run through mohair upholstery and handwoven wool rugs, while fabric-lined walls lend the bedrooms an enveloping country-house warmth.

Floral drawings made in the studio have been translated into block prints for linen wall coverings and curtains, carrying the botanical theme across the rooms. Elsewhere, the references become pleasingly particular: dried blooms are held within resin tabletops, while bathroom reliefs record the delicate impressions of flowers pressed into clay.

The art collection broadens this study of the grounds. Curated and commissioned by MHD, it encompasses equestrian life, hedgerows and seasonal cycles, with contributions from artists including Miles Cole, Catherine Reynolds and Hannastina Crick. Intricate botanical drawings sit within a varied repertoire of impasto oils, woven textiles and hand-forged steel flowers.

Beyond the interiors, the landscaping takes on a newly intimate scale. Coworth Park’s garden designer and horticulturalist Terri Crow is among the renovation project’s collaborators, with cottage gardens combining wild and cultivated woodland species above an understorey of spring flowers. In the stable courtyard, sculpted yew hedges divide the space into garden rooms, their edges softened by tall grasses.

Private terraces make room for breakfast outdoors or a drink before dinner, with the wider parkland waiting beyond. And when the season’s last flowers disappear from the grounds, their counterparts in linen, clay and resin will remain in residence.

Coworth Park is located at Blacknest Rd, Sunningdale, Ascot SL5 7SE, UK

British Airways has announced a redesign of its A380 interiors and Heathrow lounges, drawing on British craftsmanship across both. Among the commissions are Swaine amenity kits containing Wildsmith products, and Studio William cutlery and wine glasses developed with Richard Brendon and Jancis Robinson, while a new lounge at Terminal 5’s C Gates will pair British-made furnishings with a 17m bar overlooking the airfield.

BA’s redesign puts British craft in first class

The first refitted A380 is expected to enter service in the coming months, with new seats in all four classes and redesigned galleys and stairways. In the 12-suite ‘First’ cabin, dividers between centre seats open to create a shared lounge, with stowable tables allowing companions to dine together. Swaine’s royal-blue and cream amenity kits take their cue from early air travellers’ suitcases, complemented by herringbone blankets and navy sleepwear featuring BA’s bespoke tartan.

Business class occupies the entire upper deck, where 106 Club Suites form what BA calls the world’s largest business-class cabin. Four zones divide the space, with communal areas and Club Kitchens. The updated suites have additional storage and a blue, red and cream palette. Elsewhere, premium economy gains privacy wings and larger screens, while economy receives wider seats and larger screens of its own.

British sourcing also informs the new lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5’s C Gates, due to open at the end of 2028. UK-sourced timber, glazing, metalwork, textiles and bespoke furnishings will furnish a space overlooking the airfield and concourse, with a 17m bar that BA expects to rank among the world’s longest in an airport lounge. Within it, a dedicated Concorde lounge for First passengers will introduce darker materials, richer textures, private concierge service and separate dining spaces.

Developing the design concept recently introduced in Miami, the project forms part of a programme to redesign every BA lounge at Heathrow. Terminal 5’s Arrivals lounge is scheduled to open by the end of 2027, with 59 shower rooms, a coffee bar and deli, and dedicated work booths. A new Concorde Arrivals area will give First passengers private cabanas and dining spaces, with glass screens providing privacy within interiors in the airline’s blue, red and cream.

Some changes will be in place well before then. A dark-red First check-in area, developed with American Airlines, opens at Terminal 3 this winter, while Swaine’s amenity kits launched on outbound First services from Heathrow on 6 October 2026. Inbound passengers will receive them over the coming months.

britishairways.com

Coinciding with this year’s Frieze Art Fair and PAD London is the Mount Street Neighbourhood Arts Festival, which is back again this year. From 12 -17 October, the festival unites visual art, fashion, food and culture across Mayfair.

Last year, across the area’s prestigious addresses, including Mount Street, South Audley Street and Carlos Place, we saw a theme of art and books. For 2026, the festival leans into photography, featuring British photographer Miles Aldridge.

Aldridge is best known for his portrait series ‘15 Minutes of Fame ’, which will feature during the festival. 62 South Audley Street will be transformed into his working studio. Inspired by his 2024 TIME Icon of the Year shoot with Elton John, the interactive installation will invite visitors to sit against his orange backdrop for a 15-minute portrait. Each sitting results in a unique Polaroid.

‘I never know who will walk into my studio, but over the course of 15 minutes together, we create spontaneous, improvised portraits whose originality never ceases to amaze me’, says Miles Aldridge. ‘Everyone embraces the impromptu nature of the project, acting out an iconic version of themselves, and as with the best images from the history of photography, how they actually come into being is a mystery. Now, after taking my portable studio to Art Basel Miami Beach, Frieze LA and the Venice Biennale, it is a joy to be bringing it to my home city for Frieze and PAD.’

The exhibition is accompanied by a new multidisciplinary performance, ‘The Fabric of Us’ at Grosvenor Chapel, by actor and writer Omari Douglas. Taking place on 13 October, it will feature dance, spoken word, music, painting and clothing, overall exploring the theme of creating and shedding identity.

The festival will also have an Art Pub Quiz at The Audley Public House, and Hauser & Wirth Publishers will bring their Pop-Up to 62 South Audley Street, spotlighting its latest releases alongside a selection of limited signed copies. Throughout the week, there will be numerous talks and presentations, including creative studio A Vibe Called Tech, which will host a series of breakfast conversations exploring the art of rituals, with residents including Hauser & Wirth Publishers Book Shop, Lyndsey Ingram, FoundRae and APPARATUS.

Today, Farm Shop, The Row, The Connaught, Dr. Barbara Sturm, Scott’s, Simone Rocha, The Audley Public House and Jessica McCormack are among the Mount Street partners. The festival brings together such a wide roster of creatives, combining culture and community at this celebrated address.

Rimowa’s ‘Groove’ and ‘Essential’ suitcases are a functional yet beautiful travel statement for any jetsetter. Now, travellers can add to their collection, as the German premium luggage brand has launched two new colourways: Umber and Ultramarine.

Rimowa, which is best known for its classic hardshell suitcases in anodised aluminium, leaned into natural-coloured pigments for the new seasonal hues, in celebration of earthy colours. The new colours contrast yet complement each other, and make a welcomed editon alongside the shade Ink Blue, which was added to the Original collection earlier this year

Umber is often used in the first layer of painting, and is derived from the Latin word ‘Umbra’, meaning shadow. This shade injects a warm tone across the collection. Ultramarine is a nod to the vibrant blue shade used by artists during the Renaissance. The velvety shade is captivating in its boldness.

The Essential range features the new shades throughout the suitcase, from the zipper to the handle and logo badge. The colours are also applied to the Groove range, from its Cross-Body Bag and Zipped Pouch to the new Groove Mini Shopping Bag, which is a compact version of the original.

The new seasonal colours were launched with a campaign starring English actor Joe Alwyn. The short video features a story of a young artist in his new studio, taking ownership of the space and creating a world of his own. The colours inspire his creative process.

The new colours are available to buy now, with prices starting at 770€, and will be available worldwide in stores and online at RIMOWA.com.

Anyone who knew Mulholland Drive (2001) needed little introduction to the name Silencio. So when a real-world version of the fictitious nightclub opened in Paris in 2011, with interiors conceived by David Lynch himself, the curiosity was inevitable.

In the former printing rooms of L’Aurore, founder Arnaud Frisch had given the late filmmaker’s enigmatic nightspot a tangible Paris address, with a cultural cachet as idiosyncratic as its surroundings.

Silencio at 15

Lynch may have been the initial attraction, but the programme quickly became a reason to pay attention in its own right, bringing musicians, filmmakers, artists and writers into regular company. Fifteen years later, Frisch’s favourite milestones range from Lana Del Rey’s first Paris concert to Virgil Abloh’s first DJ set. ‘We understood that people were looking for more than a conventional nightclub,’ says Frisch. ‘The idea was to create a place where cinema, art, music, food and conversation could coexist, and where different creative worlds could meet.’

Prince, Björk and Kendrick Lamar have all performed at Silencio too, while the club’s wider creative cast includes filmmaker and photographer Larry Clark, designer Michèle Lamy, director Gaspar Noé and novelist Bret Easton Ellis. Their shared taste for provocation gives some sense of Frisch’s programming instincts, which allow music, cinema, fashion and literature to rub shoulders. In his words, they belong to ‘the same editorial universe’.

Frisch’s own tastes took shape in the electronic music scene of 1990s Paris, where going out eventually grew into an interest in creating places for others to gather. He launched Social Club with his partners, catering to the city’s appetite for electronic music, and his ventures now include Wanderlust, Salò and FVTVR. Each has taught him something about the relationship between a venue and its public: Social Club found a committed musical following, while the rooftop club Wanderlust showed him how nightlife and the seasons could alter the habits and geography of a neighbourhood. ‘What connects them is that we have never tried to reproduce the same formula,’ he says. ‘Each project responds to a place, a moment and the community around it.’

In Paris, a few kilometres can separate an underground club from a rooftop party, a cultural venue or a large electronic night. Frisch sees that proximity and variety as essential to the city’s character, though the allegiances of its audiences have changed. Younger guests are comfortable sampling several scenes, following their interests between music, fashion, art and food without feeling obliged to belong to any one of them.

At Silencio, a screening or a talk is as much a reason to visit as a night of music, with private events also punctuating the calendar. Membership helps pay for that breadth and gives the team some freedom in choosing what to programme. For Frisch, the value lies in seeing the same people often enough to get acquainted with their work – and, occasionally, find someone to collaborate with. ‘Exclusivity is not the objective,’ he says. His account of membership centres on familiarity: enough repeated encounters for people to get beyond introductions. A well-connected opening party is one thing; maintaining that company over years requires attention. He is similarly measured about the famous names.

‘You can create the conditions for things to happen by inviting artists, directors, writers and musicians you believe in and giving them freedom,’ he says. ‘But you cannot manufacture what a place means culturally.’ That depends on the projects, the encounters people remember and whether artists choose to return.

Frisch’s choice of architectural collaborators has given each address its own personality. At the short-lived Joséphine, which occupied the Théâtre du Châtelet from 2019 until March 2020, he worked with Virgil Abloh. Studio KO furnished a different Parisian proposition at Silencio des Prés, which opened in 2021 at the former Beau Regard, combining a restaurant, terrace and cinema. The venue has since closed, but that same year took Silencio to Cala Molí in Ibiza, where Moredesign’s timber, raffia and sandy floors accommodated art, music and long lunches by the sea. Artist Miranda Makaroff contributed to the opening, and the addition of Japanese restaurant Urusai in 2024 brought architect and designer Kulapat Yantrasast into the company’s creative roster.

In New York, meanwhile, Harry Nuriev arranged Silencio around a rectangular red dance floor, framed by curtains, LED strips and reflective padding. ‘We start by understanding the venue: its architecture, its neighbourhood, and the cultural scene around it,’ says Frisch. ‘We can’t reproduce a single model.’

Later this month, Silencio will take up residence in Berlin’s former Watergate nightclub, overlooking the Spree in Kreuzberg. Running until May 2027, the pop-up will host a different collective each weekend, allowing successive organisers to shape the programme and bring their own following to an address already familiar to the city’s clubbers.

For the opening, artist and architect Marc Leschelier is working with Studio Karhard, with lighting by Studio Raito and visual identity by Bureau Borsche. Leschelier’s practice draws on construction and heavy industry, giving the temporary occupation a vocabulary of weight and apparent permanence. ‘What I find extraordinary in his work is the precision and economy of his vocabulary,’ says Leschelier. ‘A few elements can acquire an incredibly strong presence and create an entire atmosphere.’

Silencio is accustomed to temporary arrangements, having become a familiar presence on the international art and film circuit, with pop-ups around the Venice Biennale, Cannes Film Festival and Art Basel Miami Beach. In February, it spent three nights at the West Hollywood Edition during Frieze Los Angeles.

Frisch is considering a hotel, too, although he offers no definite plans. His interest in hospitality has always accommodated screenings, dinners and conversations alongside the music; somewhere to stay would extend that thinking. Berlin, meanwhile, offers ample reason to retain his faith in the nightclub as a destination in itself. A book due in September 2027 will collect Silencio’s first 15 years. Frisch has plenty of material, and a reservation about dwelling on it: ‘A club cannot be preserved like a museum; it has to respond to new generations, new artists and changes in the city around it.’

lesilencio.com

David Gingell is a chef and the co-owner, with Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim, of London’s pioneering triumvirate of Newington Green restaurants, Primeur, Westerns Laundry and Jolene (as well as the smattering of Jolene bakeries) – a small group that upended seasonal eating in unprepossessingly chic environs when Primeur opened in 2014.

Gingell now lives in Falmouth, where he grew up. Cornwall’s set-apart nature, he says, is a boon to its food scene and the approach of its chefs: 'In Cornwall, I think you’re much more attached to the ingredients; whereas in London you’re separated by the person who sells it to you. The cooks who have moved here have embraced the life, but also that not everything is there all the time. It’s not a bad thing to be out of the latest trends.'

Here, he offers his pick of the county’s epicurean best bits.

Restaurants

Front and centre, Gingell says, is Rich Adams’s Argoe, in an elevated shack on the edge of the marina in the arty Penwith port town of Newlyn. 'As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best fish restaurant in the UK,' he says, emphatically. 'It’s got a reason for being there. Rich’s dad has a fish business in Newlyn and he’s able to get the best pick of things – the John Dory and nice sardines. They’re cooked very simply: grilled with delicious local vegetables. With that kind of food, there’s nowhere to hide.'

Up in Helston, meanwhile – and somewhat off the thronging coastal tourist trail – he likes both Pica Rico (a technicolour standing joint doing a short menu of tacos, tostadas and ceviche) and the pacific Cast Café: 'a little restaurant on the edge of a studio/gallery complex type thing. They just do really lovely food: an amazing toastie, a nice bowl of fish soup, pig’s head croquettes, the best piece of duck I’ve ever eaten.'

Seven miles or so to the east, near the village of St Martin, is the Trelowarren Estate and Flora, a café/restaurant run by Cornish cooking godhead Tim Spedding and his partner Louise. 'Tim’s one of the best chefs in the country. I’ve eaten his food in London: he was at P Franco for a bit when he started. But when I’ve eaten his food in Cornwall, it feels like he’s relaxed a bit, for it to be on another level.’ His pristine sourcing and precise cooking is seen in dishes like Westcombe ricotta and cavolo nero agnolotti, or smoked eel with green apple and curried egg mimosa.

Drinking

Gingell’s go-to pub harks back to his youth: the Seaview Inn in Falmouth is where he and his pals sank pints before big nights on the town. 'Vernon Brewery in Penryn took it over a few years ago,' he says. 'They’re local, really nice IPAs, and they did just enough to it: cleaned the toilets, sanded the floors, kept the pool table. It’s not the most beautiful, but I’ll go for some pints and a curry.”

Gingell has a 'crappy old fishing boat that I’m yet to kill myself in', which gets him and his family to and from the landing at the Pandora Inn, a thatched pub on the river in Mylor. 'It’s a beautiful, old pub, where the kids can go crabbing off the pontoon. I don’t tend to go there in summer as it’s rammed full of people bumping into each other in hire boats. But when it's calm, we’ll pootle up there.'

For wine, he’ll head to St Eia in St Ives. ‘There’s another place I do not go in summer, and that’s St Ives!’ he laughs. 'So we’ll go in the winter. Mark [Quick] and Ellie [Venning] have opened a lovely little bar that sells the occasional anchovy or a plate of something. When the sea gets colder, we’ll head to the new Kiln sauna and then have a long, boozy lunch there.'

The rest

On a more low-key bent, Gingell loves Kelp Canteen in Falmouth: 'A little van, painted blue and white, on Custom House Quay. It’s quaint, but the boys there can cook. You might get a bit of fried squid, a few oysters. It’s a vibe: busy, full of life, you go there on a hot evening in the summer and see the tourists having a brilliant time.' Similarly dreamy is Potager, a community garden, studio hub and café in Constantine doing a fine trade in soups, homemade breads and grain-flecked salads. ‘It’s nice and gentle,’ Gingell says. ‘Sometimes you need that, somewhere that’s a bit of a slower pace.’

A loaded question for the man that runs Jolene, but what’s Gingell’s favourite bakery? He bigs up Pavilion at Flushing farmers’ market, but also Native Grain in otherwise rather un-happening Truro. 'They don’t even sell coffee! Just really good pastries and bread.' Dark Pony in Falmouth, meanwhile, is his go-to for caffeine: 'They take it seriously, roast their own beans and they always have three or four coffees on. I might say “give me a random one” and I’ll always like it.'

Finally, the de rigeur Cornish pasty. 'Gear Farm near Helston,' he says without missing a beat. ‘They make them there: grow the swede, the carrot, the onions and potatoes. I’ve never had a dud, and I’ve had a lot of pasties in my life. It’s the undisputed GOAT.'

George Lucas has given the world an immense amount of entertainment over the decades, most notably via a dozen Star Wars films. Earlier this month, the filmmaker, along with his wife Mellody Hobson, gave America an otherwordly new cultural destination, The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art – and a restaurant, Skywalker Grill.

The restaurant sits at the top of Ma Yansong's otherworldly new building. And like the museum's broader mission, Skywalker Grill is all about the power of visual storytelling, not to mention fresh takes on classic American fare. With views over downtown Los Angeles and references to Lucas' famed Northern California workplace Skywalker Ranch, the destination provides an out-of-this-world place to unwind after a day traipsing through galleries. Here's what to expect.

Wallpaper* dines at Skywalker Grill

The Mood: A galaxy far, far away

Designed by Rockwell Group’s Los Angeles office, the restaurant features a generous open floor plan, defined by green-hued leather and velvet banquettes tucked into undulating timber room dividers. The sweeping dining room opens out onto a large dining patio with breathtaking city views.

According to firm founder David Rockwell, the design language borrows from midcentury modernism and the idea that architecture can also tell stories. ‘We wanted the restaurant to feel connected to George Lucas’ world through materiality, craftsmanship, imagination and an optimism about the future of design,’ Rockwell says.

While there are touches of luxe materials throughout (like a bar clad in silver gilt), cherry wood is the primary material, a stylish foil to the building's futuristic space-age envelope; no two panels are alike, thanks to the meticulous work of a local fabricator.

‘The continuous curves and sculpted transitions give the room a sense of movement,’ Rockwell adds. ‘George is naturally drawn to midcentury design and cherry wood is a featured material in his warm and inviting Skywalker Ranch. The space feels almost cinematic in its geometry.’

The food: surprisingly down-to-earth

Chef Diego Cardoso, the culinary director for Rhubarb Hospitality Collection and Oak View Group, oversee daily lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menus that lean on California-ingredient-driven American cuisine, along with some childhood comfort food favourites.

The chicken tenders are a hefty order served with a side of creamy ranch and a generous dollop of caviar. Another sharable hit comes in the form of pigs in a blanket with ballpark-style hotdog bites wrapped around an ‘everything’ croissant, with a spicy mustard dipping sauce. Both are pure comfort and great for bar snacks with a watermelon margarita or coconut martini after a day at the museum.

For a family meal with the kids, add a signature Skywalker Ranch wagyu burger or mac ’n’ cheese. Lobster salad or honey miso-glazed salmon are lighter options, and surprisingly, so is the chicken mushroom crepe. Large-format plates include pounded-flat crispy chicken Milanese on a bed of fennel and arugula with shaved Parmesan, or the prime New York steak with chimichurri, and herbed French fries, with a wine list that leans heavily on Napa Valley. The rich chocolate layer cake rounds out the meal, and you really won’t need to count calories when you are traversing across the massive museum, library and gardens.

While familiar, this is not your typical museum fare, and the modern, futuristic design of the room is a stunning addition to the Lucas legacy.

Skywalker Grill is located at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, One Lucas Plaza, 3800 S Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90037, USA

As light and temperatures rapidly dip in the Scottish capital, a great gasp of culinary sunshine has alighted on Edinburgh’s New Town in the shape of Yotam Ottolenghi’s new restaurant on George Street. More than complex pickles and dips, the big O’s arrival heralds a vote of confidence in the capital’s food credentials: ‘I couldn't be happier to be opening in Edinburgh,’ the chef divulges. ‘The city has been on our list for a long time: it's one of the best food scenes in the UK, with growers, producers and fishermen right on the doorstep.’

Edinburgh’s opening is also a homecoming of sorts for a Scot who has been central to Ottolenghi’s food story: ‘What makes this opening particularly special is Neil Campbell, our very own executive chef,’ Ottolenghi continues. ‘Neil grew up on the Isle of Skye and built much of his career in Scottish kitchens. He has spent the last decade helping shape the Ottolenghi way. Only he could have pulled off a menu that feels unmistakably Ottolenghi but with a uniquely Scottish twist.’

We’re not talking deep-fried Mars bars, for which any lazy (non-Scottish) food journo reaches when writing about Scottish fare. No. ‘This is the food and landscape that shaped me as a chef,’ Campbell says. ‘It's a privilege to celebrate the ingredients I've always loved through the flavours and cooking style I've spent the last decade developing with the Ottolenghi team.’

And the team has gone hard in celebration of Scottish suppliers: from Welch’s fishmongers to Ochil langoustines, vegetables from The Free Company and Phantassie to dairy from Katy Rodgers and Graham’s, chocolate from the Chocolate Tree in East Lothian, and mushrooms from Rhyze. Pastries will come from Company Bakery in Musselburgh and Ottolenghi has worked with Woven Whisky in Leith to blend the restaurant’s very own ‘water of life’. Even the aprons are made by local menswear designer Kestin.

The breakfast-to-dinner dining room has been designed by Alex Meitlis, a long-time collaborator of Ottolenghi. It’s clearly a meeting of minds and values. Meitlis describes ‘generosity and warmth’ as the definitive factors behind the food and design outlook. ‘I've been designing the Ottolenghi restaurants and delis for over 20 years, and the thing that has never changed is that the design is the canvas for the food – for sharing and gathering together,’ Meitlis says. ‘So the interiors have to feel lived-in and inviting rather than precious. George Street gives you wonderful Georgian bones: proportion, symmetry, natural light, and the instinct was to honour that rather than override it.

‘In [the] Edinburgh [restaurant], the central bar sits at the heart of the room, which is very deliberate: it's the gravitational centre, the place the energy radiates from,’ Meitlis continues. ‘The textures and materials lean into wood and warmth, and every element of furniture and textiles was designed bespoke for the space. For private celebrations, we created a garret-style bar seating up to 30, full of hand-painted shapes. It’s a room that invites you to feast and be loud.’ This will be music to the ears of a local Edinburgh New Town audience who enjoy braying over brunch.

Artists and fellow Ottolenghi collaborators Gilles & Cecilie developed a concept for the restaurant to unite the local context with Ottolenghi’s Mediterranean heartland, titled: ‘We Share the Same Sea’. ‘It came from a simple, hopeful thought: the sea that touches Scotland is the same sea that touches the shores of the southern Mediterranean, where so much of Ottolenghi's cooking comes from,’ the couple say. ‘For a restaurant bringing those two worlds together on a northern coast, that felt like exactly the right thread to follow: flavours and people carried across the same water, arriving somewhere new and becoming part of it. It is always expandingly creative to work with the Ottolenghi team, Yotam and Alex.’

Ottolenghi Edinburgh is an effervescent and uplifting environment that sits in contrast to the more Nordic-infused interiors that have become de rigueur in the capital’s foodie establishments. We welcome this burst of texture and colour. It feels healthy, sociable and exuberant, rather than earnest or tweezered. ‘There's a generosity of spirit here that feels completely in keeping with what this restaurant is about,’ Gilles & Cecilie explain. ‘Inside you’ll find paintings that are abstractions of reflections we collected in conversations with people connected to the location.’

A gloriously hearty and heart-filled generosity runs through all aspects of the new Ottolenghi project, which the man himself modestly credits as being of its place, rather than imported: ‘I love the way Scottish hospitality is really warm, without any fuss.’ We’ll take it, said the Scots. Alongside a lifetime’s supply of banana bread with tahini and honeycomb, thank you very much.

Ottolenghi Edinburgh opens on 2 October 2026, 92 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 3DF

Atlanta’s art scene speaks in many vernaculars, unfolding across converted industrial spaces, artist-led initiatives, university museums and a network of independent studios that have shaped the city’s distinctive cultural cadence. Atlanta Art Fair houses that energy, returning to Pullman Yards for its third edition with more than 80 galleries – its largest line-up yet – alongside installations, performances, talks and special exhibitions. This year’s edition also expands its international reach while keeping Atlanta and the wider American South firmly at its core. With the 2026 edition taking place from 1-4 October, five of the city’s artists, curators and cultural figures share the cafés, bars and restaurants they return to beyond the fair.

Where to eat and drink in Atlanta, the insiders’ guide

Alicia Felder

Morning treat at East Pole Coffee Co

‘I don’t need caffeine, so for me a cappuccino is a dessert treat I’m very serious about – which means I’m incredibly picky about getting it right. I’ve been known to try a cappuccino and throw it away after one sip if it’s bad. I usually pair mine with an almond croissant from The Little Tart Bakeshop on Krog Street – they’ve had me in a chokehold forever.’

East Pole Coffee Co is located at 676 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, United States

Wine o’clock at VinoTeca

‘VinoTeca is the perfect place to do a wine flight and discover new wines, have a meeting, or simply go for the atmosphere. The environment is comfortable and welcoming, the crowd is always great and open to interacting if that’s what you want, dogs are allowed; and their sommelier, Jeanine, is fantastic. The wine selection is also incredible for a shop of its size.’

VinoTeca is located at 299 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, United States

Dinner at The Consulate Atlanta

‘The Consulate is a proper elite dining experience in Atlanta. The global cuisine is always authentic and sublime, while the atmosphere and décor are sexy perfection. Every 90 days, they literally spin a globe and select a random country to inspire an authentic new menu. The mixologist also creates masterful, limited-edition craft cocktails to coincide with each new concept. Although a few fan favourites have made it onto the permanent menu, I always try the new one because the food is consistently outstanding.’

The Consulate Atlanta is located at 10 10th St NW Ste P200, Atlanta, GA 30309, United States

Kevin W. Tucker

Morning treat at Alon’s Bakery & Market

‘As a city of the South, Atlanta is more of a ‘biscuits for breakfast’ hub rather than a place known for its pastries, but Alon’s Bakery & Market is my neighbourhood ‘go-to’ for a croissant or pain au chocolat and a cappuccino. For the complete vintage diner experience and Southern breakfast complete with biscuits, try the Silver Skillet on Westside. Decidedly unfancy, but a true flavour of the city.′

Alon’s Bakery & Market is located at 1394 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, United States

Wine o’clock at Lucian Books and Wine

‘Lucian Books and Wine is a relaxing and elegant spot in Buckhead that, as its name suggests, brings together these two great things. Enjoy their French-inspired bites, sip a Spanish Tempranillo, and peruse an art book (of course) or three for a wonderful evening experience. For cocktails, I enjoy seeking out hidden spots around the city, from inspired gin creations at Whoopsie’s in Reynoldstown to rum-infused tiki cocktails at Trader Vic’s only East Coast location in the downtown Hilton Atlanta.’

Lucian Books and Wine is located at 3005 Peachtree Rd Ste 300, Atlanta, GA 30305, United States

Dinner at Elise

‘Elise, next to the High Museum of Art, is a new favourite for its beautiful setting and its refined menu crafted by chef Craig Richards. Try the risotto cacio e pepe or the roast chicken and savour the presentation, service, and flavours of one of Atlanta’s best dining spots right on the museum’s piazza in midtown. And be sure to check out their dedicated vermouth menu as an aperitif to an excellent meal.’

Elise is located at 1280 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, United States

Sarah Higgings

Morning treat at Aurora Coffee

‘For coffee, Aurora Coffee in Little Five Points is my stop. They’re not pastry-oriented, but my morning order does include a chocolate chip cookie. In summer, it’s a large iced coffee; in winter, a hot dirty chai latte. But really, Atlanta is a sit-down breakfast city, and visitors shouldn’t skip that experience. My favourite, by a mile, is Homegrown on Memorial Drive. I even met my fiancé there, sitting at the breakfast counter! Be warned, though: their comfy chicken biscuit will send you straight back to bed for a nap.’

Aurora Coffee is located at 468 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, United States

Cocktails at Whoopsie’s

‘Whoopsie’s is my favourite for excellent boozy cocktails, delicious food and impeccable vibes. Whoopsie’s is like the fanciest dive bar – or a fancy bar that has slid, ever so slightly, into grittier times. It’s like a switchblade with a crystal handle. For the vino sophisticate, I’m also a fan of Lucian Books & Wine. It’s the perfect place for those who want to pair their glass with a beautifully designed art book in an elegant yet relaxed setting.’

Whoopsie’s is located at 1 Moreland Ave SE Ste c, Atlanta, GA 30316, United States

Dinner at Ticonderoga Club

‘I love sneaky, hole-in-the-wall places. Not quite speakeasies, but restaurants that feel cosy and a little eccentric, with a sense of discovering a hidden oasis. Ticonderoga Club on Krog Street is a favourite. My cocktail is the Horsepower – bourbon, apricot eau-de-vie, lemon, ginger and bitters. I’d start with the steak tartare, served with daikon medallions, then follow it with the S&S chargrilled pork steak with green papaya salad, nuoc cham, fresh herbs and sweet-and-sour tamarind sauce. Obviously, this is a place for carnivores. I’d finish with the chocolate mousse and maybe a nightcap.’

Ticonderoga Club is located at 99 Krog St NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, United States

Tiffany LaTrice

Morning treat at Portrait Coffee

‘My favourite place to grab coffee and a pastry in the morning is Portrait Coffee. It’s a short walk from my house and a Black-owned coffee shop in Atlanta’s West End, so it feels like a true neighbourhood spot. I always order the Aunt Viv with an extra shot of espresso, along with a chocolate croissant for a little sweet treat. I usually sit inside and enjoy both because I almost always run into a friend. What starts as a quick coffee often turns into sitting around and catching up, which is one of my favourite parts of going there.’

Portrait Coffee is located at 1065 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW # A, Atlanta, GA 30310, United States

Wine o’clock at JoJo’s Beloved Cocktail Lounge

‘My favourite cocktail bar is JoJo’s Beloved Cocktail Lounge in Midtown. It’s a cute, swanky speakeasy tucked inside Colony Square, with great cocktails, good music and an effortlessly fun atmosphere. It’s one of those places that feels special without taking itself too seriously.’

JoJo’s Beloved Cocktail Lounge is located at 1197 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, United States

Dinner at Poor Calvin’s

‘I’ve been a huge fan of Poor Calvin’s for more than 10 years, and it’s still one of my favourite dinner spots in the city. My go-to order is the lobster crawfish wontons, followed by the country fried chicken with lobster mac and cheese and collard greens. And you absolutely have to save room for the toasted pound cake for dessert. Everything on the menu is incredible, but those are my must-orders.’

Poor Calvin’s is located at 510 Piedmont Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308, United States

Victoria Dugger

Morning treat at Little Tart Bakeshop

‘I love Little Tart Bakeshop for coffee and pastries. I’m pretty simple with coffee – usually a latte with oat milk – and then whatever pastry looks best that day. I have a hard time saying no to a sweet treat.’

Little Tart Bakeshop is located at 437 Memorial Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30312, United States

Wine o’clock at Madeira Park

‘I like places where you can actually sit and talk and stay for a while, and Madeira Park has that kind of energy. I’m usually a wine person, but I would get a good cocktail if something interesting is on the menu.’

Madeira Park is located at 640 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, United States

Dinner at Antico’s Pizza

‘Antico’s Pizza is one of those places I always want when I’m in Atlanta – casual, loud, a little chaotic, and just really good. I usually get something with mushrooms.’

Antico’s Pizza is located at 1093 Hemphill Ave NW, Atlanta, GA 30318, United States

They say nothing worth having comes easy, and that could certainly apply to getting to Anantara Tented Camp Kafue River in Zambia. After an 11-hour flight, followed by another two-hour hop by plane, and a five-hour car journey (the resort will soon get its own private airstrip), our 4x4 slowly rolled into camp after the sun had set, leaving it wrapped in darkness. Happily, glowing lights illuminated the pathway to a private villa, where we would stay for two days.

In the morning, light touched the surrounding landscape, proudly revealing where we had landed up and the tranquillity of the gently flowing Kafue River nearby. The camp itself, which had been under construction for three years before opening in September 2026, is elevated three metres above the ground on a series of stilts, its various elements connected by winding walkways. Ahead lies a slice of the 1,576km river, where elephants, hippos and crocodiles cool off.

With monkeys playing outside, eagles and kingfishers calling, and a mother elephant and her calf casually grazing at the entrance to the camp, the journey was well worth the effort.

Wallpaper* checks in at Anantara Tented Camp Kafue River

What’s on your doorstep?

Luxury hotel group Anantara, best known in Zambia for Anantara The Royal Livingstone at Victoria Falls, launched the tented camp as a way of creating a more sustainable safari experience. However, the thread that runs through the entire stay is its adaptability. This is achieved predominantly through a villa host – a dedicated member of the team who ensures guests’ itinerary runs smoothly, from bringing early-morning cappuccinos to escorting you to the safari area.

Start the day just after dawn with a 4x4 safari through Kafue National Park. The rangers, charming and knowledgeable, identify and point out camouflaged wildlife, from rare birds and leopards to elephants and warthogs. Enjoy coffee and homemade biscuits along the way, before returning to the camp for breakfast. If you prefer being on the water, a river safari is an incredibly calming way to start or end the day. Here, spotting a hippo in the Kafue River is as easy as seeing a cow in the English countryside. Resist any urge to take a dip, however, as the local wildlife is not accommodating of the casual swimmer.

One note: pack long trousers and long-sleeved tops to help prevent insect bites, and avoid blue and black – the pesky tsetse fly’s favourite colours.

Who is behind the design?

The interiors of the villas, suites and main reception and dining area are tactile, vibrant and playful. Meg Ralph, founder of her namesake design studio based in South Africa, spearheaded the design and steered clear of any clichéd game-park interiors – think animal prints and British colonial touches.

Instead, she focused on the abstract. Wall hangings that resemble a recognisable giraffe print are formed from clusters of geometric shapes; fringed pieces hang from the walls, fully integrating decoration into the interior; and large tables display carefully selected books that highlight the region’s craftsmanship. Curved wicker lights anchor the space, acting as both sculptural and functional elements.

The room to book

The camp comprises ten Kafue Pool Villas and three Horizon Terrace Suites. The former are set along a winding walkway, each named after a native tree. At the entrance, there is space for shoes, umbrellas and blankets, as well as an Instax Mini camera, free to use during your stay. Inside, the space truly unfolds. Glass sliding doors form the façade facing the river, offering uninterrupted views. The living area to the right is generous, with a fridge and a coffee machine stocked and ready. To the left are a large bed, a walk-in wardrobe and a desk.

Further into the villa, there is a dressing table, and a built-in spa suite for treatments from the comfort of your room. The bathroom features a large central tub, while double sinks overlook the terrace outside. The shower doubles as a sauna and steam room, ideal for unwinding. Outside, you will find an outdoor shower, a plunge pool, a seating area and a kitchen, giving guests the option to dine at their villa at any time.

The Horizon Terrace Suite feels like staying amid the tree canopy. Elevated 14.3 metres above the ground, it is accessed via a glass lift and offers 360-degree views of the river and park – a perspective rarely found in a safari camp.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The food is inspired by the setting, but can be adapted to your preferences. There is the main dining area, Luzuba Harvestry, or you can enjoy food in the comfort of your villa. Less conventional are a sunken pontoon floating in the middle of the river, for a more intimate experience, and the chance to sip a mojito or a gin and tonic made with local 1964 Gin out in the bush.

Where to switch off

The riverside location is embraced throughout the design of the camp and even feeds into the gym. Fully equipped with Technogym equipment, the fitness suite floats on the water, overlooking the surrounding wildlife – the first of its kind in Africa.

The suites, with their private spa areas, are perfect for enjoying a massage or facial treatment and truly unwinding. However, a highlight of the trip was enjoying a refreshing mocktail at the end of the day, sitting in deep chairs around three giant fire pits in the main resort area. It’s a beautiful way to share stories and get to know fellow travellers.

The verdict

Anantara Tented Camp Kafue River aims to set a benchmark for eco-tourism, with the environment at the forefront of its design. What holds the camp together, though, is the hospitality – care and attentiveness sit at its heart, while kindness radiates throughout.

Stays start from £5,500 per room per night based on two people sharing a suite on full board, premium beverages, game drives and massage treatments. anantara.com

Just an hour by car or train from central Tokyo, Casa Caban Hayama is a seaside hideaway with sweeping views across Sagami Bay towards Mount Fuji. The hotel is the fruit of a collaboration between Spanish architect and product designer Patricia Urquiola and Japanese fashion and lifestyle company Tomorrowland. Established in 1978, Tomorrowland was one of the Japanese pioneers in blurring the boundaries between fashion and lifestyle. Though it had already dipped a toe into hospitality, Casa Caban Hayama is its first standalone hotel venture. The leitmotif that runs through both the architecture and interiors is ‘weaving’. Throughout the hotel, artworks conceived by Urquiola herself add a playful, singular dimension.

Wallpaper* checks in at Casa Caban Hayama

What’s on your doorstep?

Casa Caban Hayama’s entrance sits at the edge of a quiet residential area of Hayama, while the guest-room terraces and restaurant overlook Morito Beach, with uninterrupted views of the coast. The shore is neither a glamorous Slim Aarons-esque resort scene nor a Martin Parr-esque portrait of popular beach life. With the bathing area, bars and beach huts located a little farther down the coast, there is little to obstruct the view, save the occasional passer-by walking along the sand or sailboats out at sea. It feels almost as serene as Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Seascapes series. Although Hayama is no conventional sightseeing destination, those wishing to explore can visit Morito Daimyojin Shrine nearby. For water sports and other seaside activities, Hayama Marina is within a ten-minute drive.

Who’s behind the design?

About ten years ago, Patricia Urquiola, creative director of Cassina, met with her old friend Hiroyuki Sasaki, chairman of Tomorrowland. The company has its own clothing lines, including the label Caban, defined by a playful approach to essential pieces, and lifestyle collection Tomorrowland Home, as well as concept stores. A conversation between the two creatives soon gave rise to the hotel project. At the time, they were standing on the very site where Casa Caban Hayama would eventually be built, then occupied by a café, the company’s first seaside hospitality venture.

‘I can bring everything together around one cohesive vision, uniting the structure, the materials and the design. I am honoured to be able to express our worldview through the fusion of this location and Tomorrowland. My love for Japan, Tomorrowland and Hiro (Hiroyuki Sasaki) is what this hotel is all about,’ says Urquiola. Inspired by the coastal landscape, the designer drew the meeting of land and sea into a colour palette ranging from earthy tones to ocean blue, alongside organic forms. Craftsmanship and sustainability were values shared by both sides.

The architectural common thread is ‘weaving’ – Urquiola’s nod to Tomorrowland’s origins in knitwear. The idea is expressed through a variety of materials and techniques, each playing with warp and weft. On the building’s façade, the concrete surface is scored with vertical and horizontal lines. It is partly clad in grid-like panels, handwoven in Indonesia using recycled polyethene. For the ceiling in the lounge, Urquiola commissioned Kyoto artisans to reinterpret the interlaced motif in bamboo. In the guest rooms and corridors, the louvres are not conventional horizontal slats but incorporate vertical elements, creating a woven pattern. They provide privacy while filtering sunlight and casting grid-like shadows. The swimming pool floor, meanwhile, is covered in a blue-and-white checkerboard pattern, reminiscent of a tenugui, a traditional Japanese cotton towel.

Another noteworthy feature is suminagashi, the traditional Japanese art of ink marbling. It appears on roof-tile-shaped pieces, which are deceptively made from lightweight resin rather than ceramic. They line a wall in the entrance hall. In contrast, ceramic is used to clad the lounge’s columns, similarly treated using the technique. The furniture and lighting are largely by Urquiola, working with makers including Flos, Moroso, Kettal, Glas Italia, cc-tapis and, of course, Cassina, for which she serves as artistic director, with many pieces customised from existing designs.

Urquiola’s involvement extends to artworks and objects throughout the hotel. In the entrance hall, a geometric light box invites guests to decipher its motif; Urquiola aficionados might recognise an echo of the Loveseat she designed for Moroso. Many of the wall hangings interpret forms found in nature; conceived by Urquiola, they were handmade by cc-tapis. Elsewhere, ceramic objects were personally selected by the designer. ‘By treating the hotel as a vast canvas, I believe we have created a world that embraces its guests gently,’ she says.

The room to book

The Caban Suite is the signature room, spanning 173 sq m, including two rooftop terraces. In the living area, Cassina’s Mon Cloud sofa is paired with a marguerite-inspired rug made by cc-tapis. Their curved lines and understated tones are echoed by a Cimento dining table. In the additional lounge area, rectangular and square ceramic tiles pick up the recurring ‘weaving’ motif in terracotta hues. Throughout, the details come together with a sense of considered cohesion, guided by Urquiola’s meticulous eye.

The Hayama Suite spans 89 sq m, including a 17 sq m terrace, and takes a more eclectic approach. Cassina’s chunky Dudet chairs and a Flos pendant bring a playful note, while lilac accents set against warm copper tones somehow feel Japanese. The Urquiola-designed tapestries add a funky, offbeat note to the space.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The main dining room serves Italian-influenced cuisine enhanced with Japanese finesse, drawing on seasonal local produce. Pasta might come with shirasu (baby anchovies) or Hayama sea urchin, while charcoal-grilled Hayama Ishii beef is another highlight. On the B1 level, Ashitaba offers a change of pace in a minimal setting – uncharacteristic of Urquiola, as it is the hotel’s only space not designed by her.

The traditional Japanese restaurant serves an omakase menu featuring seafood from the Miura Peninsula. Both restaurants are open to non-hotel guests. The lounge bar, meanwhile, is reserved for overnight guests and serves a range of creative cocktails and mocktails; a daily special might be a piña colada mocktail topped with herbs from the garden. Alternatively, guests can take a drink back to their terrace. Each room has a small wine cellar with a curated selection of bottles, while the complimentary bottled water is sourced from the foothills of Mount Fuji.

Where to switch off

The hotel intentionally places greater emphasis on time spent in the room and by the swimming pool than on dedicated spa facilities. Here, far niente is perhaps the best way to unwind, with the stay itself conceived as a retreat. There is no need for yoga sessions or beauty treatments. All fourteen rooms face the sea and have their own terraces. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Forget about a morning shower; opt for an evening bath, just like the Japanese. After soaking in Dead Sea salt and caressing your skin with Japanese products based on botanical or marine extracts, you can slip into extra-soft, extra-long-staple fabrics: the bed linen and pyjamas are made from Egyptian Giza cotton, while the towels are Supima cotton, all designed by Tomorrowland Home.

The verdict

For design lovers, Casa Caban Hayama offers a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in Patricia Urquiola’s world. At the Caban store on the B1 level, footwear and bags designed by Urquiola are also available. Add sweeping coastal views, thoughtful dining and attentive service, and the result is a compelling seaside escape. Above all, the hotel reflects the deep creative affinity between Tomorrowland and Urquiola.

Casa Caban Hayama is located at 955-2 Horiuchi, Hayama-machi, Miura-gun, Kanagawa 240-0112, Japan. Rates: from JPY 177,100, including dinner and breakfast.

New York’s Crown Building comes with a history as flamboyant as the bejewelled coronet that sits at its top, including stints as the original home of the Museum of Modern Art and, infamously, a one-time birthday gift for Imelda Marcos. In 2022, though, the upper storeys of the landmarked tower reopened as a bastion of understated sophistication, Aman New York, marking the ultra-luxury, Swiss-based hotel brand’s first urban location in the United States.

Like Aman’s other US destinations – notably Amangiri, the storied desert escape in Canyon Point, Utah – Aman New York quickly became one of America’s top hotels. It’s even earned the Michelin Guide’s coveted Three-Keys designation, one of just four hotels in the city to meet the standard.

Not being a property to rest on its laurels (though the top of the building is festooned in carved floral wreaths), Aman New York recently added a new class of luxury accommodation to join its existing 83 guest suites and residences. The property’s Home collection consists of seven sprawling private residences that are geared towards discerning travellers looking for a personal, apartment-like feel, whether they’re staying for a few nights or a few weeks, travelling with extended family or a retinue. With luxury amenities that include everything from private pools to private chefs to private butler service, Aman New York’s Homes offer a new benchmark for luxury hospitality in the Big Apple. Here’s what to expect.

Wallpaper* checks in at the Aman New York Homes

What’s on your doorstep?

Located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street – aka Billionaire’s Row – Aman New York places you in the heart of Manhattan’s most iconic shopping district. In fact, some of New York’s most storied shops can be found no further than you can throw a Birkin, including Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, all of which are across the street. Don’t feel the need to cross a chaotic city road? Bulgari and Prada are just downstairs.

Walk two blocks north and you’ll find yourself in the lush expanse of Central Park. Enjoy a leisurely stroll, or – if you’re feeling ambitious after all that shopping – lace up your sneakers for a brisk six-mile loop. Cultural attractions abound in this part of Manhattan, too, whether you hoof it four blocks to MoMA (the institution left the Crown in 1932) or hitch Aman’s private car to Lincoln Center, the Met, the Guggenheim or the Frick.

Who is behind the design?

Aman relied on longtime collaborator and hospitality veteran Jean-Michel Gathy and his Kuala Lumpur-based design firm Denniston for the interiors. The name ‘Aman’ is derived from the Sanskrit word for ‘peace’, one that can feel incongruous in a city as intense as the Big Apple. ‘The challenge,’ the firm said, ‘was to bring Aman's stillness into one of the world's most relentless cities.’

That’s a feeling as soon as you step in from the busy street to the hushed double-height lobby. Visitors ascend an elevator to the 14th-floor reception area, a step that provides additional removal from the stressful metropolis.

In contrast with the Crown Building’s opulent exterior (30 gallons of liquid gold purportedly coat its summit), Gathy designed the spaces with warm Japanese minimalism in mind, emphasising mindful materials and connections with nature. The ceilings in the reception are in a rhythmic basketweave, a pattern that’s picked up in the subtle-yet-sumptuous dark marble flooring. Finishes like timber, grasscloth and raw stone create an enveloping, wabi-sabi atmosphere. Even though you’re in the middle of the concrete jungle, thoughtful touchpoints with the outdoors can be found everywhere, from precise ikebana floral arrangements to an outdoor terrace that’s planted with rustling maple trees to the vertiginous views out to Central Park.

The room to book

Guests of Aman New York can expect an exceptional experience from any of the hotel’s 83 suites, each of which comes equipped with its own working fireplace. But for discriminating travellers looking for an even more immersive experience – and more room for their friends and family – look no further than the four new Homes. Two feature private pools, offering the chance to almost quite literally float on the clouds.

For the ultimate chance to spread out in style, aim for the full-floor residence. Encompassing a mind-boggling 6,300 sq ft, this residence comes with three bedrooms, an open-plan living and dining area, a sprawling kitchen stocked with matching Le Creuset cookware, a dedicated office, an entertainment room and even staff quarters. The quarters even come with a private butler.

The level of detail is on par with the rest of Aman’s spaces, from the refined parquet floors inlaid with brass; fireplaces in the living room, primary bedroom and (yes) bathroom; and bespoke furnishings. Ikebana arrangements are brought in fresh. Even the door surrounds are perfumed with cinnamon-scented wood, a feature that leaves a softly-scented wake as you drift from room to room.

Just as luxurious is the surfeit of square footage, a rarity in New York’s cramped hospitality market. The walk-in closet comes with an additional closet; the living room has two sitting areas; the private office has its own en-suite bathroom. A recent visitor even had to call her husband’s cell phone to find him. The biggest treat, though, is the views. This plush aerie affords wrap-around views of Central Park, the green mansard roof of the Plaza Hotel, and Louis Vuitton’s trunk-shaped scaffolding.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

There’s no shortage of fine dining options in this part of Midtown. But some of the best – and most exclusive – can be found at the Aman New York; in fact, dining spaces are only accessible to hotel guests, residents and members of the Aman’s private club.

For unforgettable Japanese cuisine, allow the elevator to whisk you down to Akari on the 14th floor. The organic interiors, which feature a ceiling inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, allow you to prepare yourself for the exquisite feast to come, courtesy of chef Takuma Yonemaru. For the best experience, opt for the Chef’s Tasting Menu, which highlights seasonal ingredients and the finest seafood, flown in directly from Japan. (And don’t miss the Matcha-misu, a green-tinged riff on the Italian classic). Craving comforts? Head to Arva, the Aman New York’s Italian concept. Choose from classics like veal Milanese and spaghetti alla carbonara, or have a leisurely Sunday morning on the terrace during the restaurant’s weekend brunch.

If you’re craving light bites and cocktails, the Aman also offers a host of relaxed nooks in which to imbibe and unwind, from the verdant Garden Terrace, to the seductive lounge bar to a speakeasy-style jazz bar. Of course, you may not want to leave your gorgeous suite at all. Not to worry: you can book your own in-home chef experience.

Where to switch off

Aman New York takes wellness seriously. So seriously, in fact, that three floors and 25,000 sq ft of the property are dedicated exclusively to fitness, longevity and relaxation. Work out on cutting-edge Technogym equipment in the fitness centre, where you can also access a yoga and a pilates studio and a cryotherapy chamber for recovery. Looking for more? Book a private class in everything from yoga to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a custom fitness assessment, or special wellness journeys curated by Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic.

But more likely than not, you’ll want to spend your time on the second floor lounging alongside a fire pit in front of a 65ft lap pool. Here you can also find a banya and hammam, each with a terrace and cold plunge. The Aman New York’s spa is best in class, with specially-designed treatments to leave you calm and refreshed. The 120-minute Aman New York signature journey is especially designed to calm stressed-out urbanites, with a ritual that begins with a fluorite crystal (a mineral that can literally be found in Manhattan’s bedrock) and continues with massage, singing bowls and an Aman x 111Skin hydrogel mask.

The verdict

Like the name of its building implies, the Aman New York is a jewel in the crown of Manhattan hospitality. With everything literally at your doorstep – from world-class shopping to superlative service – the Homes category allows well-heeled travellers to feel like they have their very own city pied-à-terre, whether they’re spending a night or two, or settling in for a multi-week stay. A slice of the Big Apple with no strings attached? We can’t think of a finer luxury.

Aman New York is located at the Crown Building, 730 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, USA

Belgrade has never lacked architectural tension: neoclassical façades, Yugoslav brutalism, socialist-era futurism and everyday urban grit all coexist, which makes the arrival of a new eclectic hybrid entertainment venue feel oddly at home.

Esthetic Joys Embassy (EJE) inhabits a 1927 villa in Dorćol, originally built for Edvard and Danica Vlajić Zamboni, a prominent and intellectual couple of the time, and designed by Serbian architect Branislav Kojić, with interiors by his wife, Danica Kojić. The building later served as the Kap mleka milk dispensary and, in the 1960s and 1970s, as Iran’s diplomatic mission in Belgrade. Today, it houses Pavilion Hotel and EJE Belgrade: a hotel, dining room, bar and discotheque under one roof.

Wallpaper* dines at Esthetic Joys Embassy, Belgrade

The mood: Yugoslav kiosk meets Japanese listening bar

Dreamt up by Paris-based studio Supaform, EJE emulates late-1950s and early-1960s Yugoslav modernism, when optimism arrived in aerodynamic forms and modular civic structures. The key source of inspiration is industrial architect Saša Mächtig’s 1966 K67 kiosk: a rounded, portable, if not slightly utopian, shape-shifting system of modular fibreglass structures mass-produced until 1999.

Inside, the room flirts with that tension of endless possibilities. A warm, deep yellow runs through the space, while oval ceiling lights cast a nostalgic glow and a Dulton Double Face Japanese station clock ticks and tocks near the DJ booth. The banquet sofas that skirt the darkly hued wooden walls are upholstered in the final run of Misha Black’s District line moquette, sourced from the London mill before the pattern was discontinued.

The otherworldly spatial picture is complete with vintage JBL 4435 studio monitors and a dug-up vinyl collection, staying true to Japanese listening-bar culture. Guests can settle at the bar, linger at the sound module, dance, or lose track of time in one of the six ichiran-style booths, where curtains close, headphones go on, and food can be ordered contactlessly.

The food: everyday dishes with an Asian pulse

Chef Andrey Balakhnov describes EJE’s food as ‘modern, vibrant, and easy to understand’: familiar dishes given depth through Asian techniques, spices, sauces and ingredients. He recommends starting with the rich and comforting pork ramen and finishing with the inventive sake tiramisu. Elsewhere, the drinks menu disguises itself as a stock exchange fantasy, with signature cocktails inspired by world currencies. The Chinese Yuan pairs vodka, sake, kombu and miso into an umami-led serve; the Japanese Yen brings yuzu and sparkling wine together, while the Korean Won mixes gin, strawberry soju, coconut and citrus.

Esthetic Joys Embassy is located at Dobračina 39, Beograd 11000, Serbia

Hong Kong food – while commonly tucked under the wider umbrella of Cantonese cuisine – has its own distinct identity, with unique local takes on dishes and drinks, from Hong Kong French toast (a peanut butter fried sandwich) to milk tea (with evaporated and/or condensed milk) and char siu (sticky-glazed roast pork).

Putting Hong Kong food on the map in London is Nicole Ma, co-founder of Hoko, a growing line of cafés. The Brick Lane original is inspired by a cha chaan teng (a traditional Hong Kong café) and feels at once retro and contemporary; the second concept, in Seven Dials, Hoko Wonton Noodles, dishes up plump and succulent hand-wrapped noodles; and now a third opening, Bakery Hoko on Bethnal Green Road, leans into the sweeter side of life.

Inside Bakery Hoko

Each Hoko location feels different, but all are marked by the intention to create a space that sits at the intersection of Hong Kong design and the context of London.

For Bakery Hoko, Ma worked with Justin Melican of Block One Design, who also designed Hoko’s Brick Lane café. Together they decided to focus on the material language of Hong Kong’s post-war public housing estates, which has been interpreted through a restrained brutalist lens.

‘Hong Kong’s post-war housing estates often had humble neighbourhood bakeries within them,’ says Ma. ‘So that relationship between everyday architecture and bakery culture felt very natural to us.’

She explains that they referenced visual codes such as repetition, grids, dense geometry, and very direct use of materials. However, ‘rather than recreating a Hong Kong bakery literally, the idea was to capture something of that architectural character and give it a contemporary London identity’.

She continues, ‘I shared lots of photographs and references I’d collected in Hong Kong, things I recognise instinctively as a Hong Konger, while Justin brought another perspective through materials and [knowledge of] brutalist architecture. We had plenty of friendly “battles” along the way, but that back-and-forth helped us find the balance between Hong Kong nostalgia and a contemporary London identity.’

One thing they both settled on was the bold mix of materials often found in Hong Kong, such as mosaic tiles, terrazzo, concrete and strong colours. In the bakery, this dynamic energy is seen, for example, in tiling and concrete working in harmony with Ketley brick counter, a nod to the Barbican.

Ma continues, ‘There are smaller, more personal details: our own photographs of Hong Kong housing estates, plastic bread trays, orange bakery tongs, and vintage blue melamine plates sourced by my mum. Those are probably the details that make the space feel most like home to me.’

The food: try a Hong Kong egg tart for a start

The baked goods look as good as the surroundings. Each gets its signature springy texture from Japanese flour. The breads are made using a sponge dough method, with controlled low-temperature fermentation. This means part of the dough is fermented separately at a lower temperature before the final mix, allowing flavour and dough structure to develop gradually.

There are both sweet and savoury goods on offer, from seaweed egg salad buns to lemon honey butter toast and bolo buns. At the heart of the bakery is Hong Kong’s most recognisable bake: the egg tart.

‘For me, the perfect egg tart is all about balance,’ says Ma. ‘The egg filling should be just cooked, soft, light and silky, almost closer to steamed egg than custard. It shouldn’t be too sweet, and you should still be able to really taste the egg. I also love a handmade crust with a slightly thicker lip. It gives you a proper crunch, and the small imperfections are part of what makes it beautiful. The pastry itself should be rich in butter and very crumbly. And most importantly, it should be eaten warm, when the filling is at its softest and the buttery aroma is at its best.’

Ma also notes not to miss the snow-crust char siu bun, filled with barbecue pork and wrapped in soft bread with a thin, crisp sweet crust on top; the Horlicks Swiss roll, with a very light, eggy sponge with malted Horlicks cream; and a strong Hong Kong milk tea.

You don’t need to be familiar with Hong Kong to enjoy the bakery. Just bring a hungry curiosity.

Bakery Hoko is located at 152-154, Bethnal Green Road, London E2 6DG

Expand your wheeled luggage collection with this round-up of five new bags from the industry’s leading hard-cased brands. From carry-on classics to robust check-in cases, new models from Carl Friedrik, July, Delsey Paris, Nudient, and Mous combine high-tech lightweight materials with hard-wearing details.

The Check-In by Carl Friedrik

The newest piece from Carl Friedrik is The Check-In, the manufacturer’s take on the classic ribbed aluminium bodied hard-shell luggage. The brand has developed a special aluminium alloy to maximise the durability of the new range, although dings and scars will inevitably appear to remind you of journeys past. Measuring 68 x 46 x 29cm (26.8 x 18.1 x 11.4 inches), the empty bag weighs in at 6.4kg and offers a capacity of 76 litres.

The indented hinges, corner brackets and triple clasp system all inspire confidence, while the suitcase also includes vegetable-tanned leather accents in three signature finishes, Cognac, Chocolate and Black to add another layer of visual interest. The Check-In follows on from The Carry-on, a smaller (38-litre) case launched earlier this year (along with a premium audio travel-set collaboration with Sony) and will be followed by more sizes soon.

The Check-In - Aluminium, £795, CarlFriedrik.com, @CarlFriedrik

July Capsule Carry On Pro

For a slightly smaller case, consider the new Capsule Carry On Pro from luggage specialists July. Restocked after it sold out quickly following its launch earlier in 2026, the Capsule Carry On Pro combines a unique loading system and a number of modest packaging innovations.

The primary point of difference is the case’s top-down opening system, which only uses a fraction of the upper surface to provide access to the spacious (43.5 litre) interior. Measuring 55.6 by 35.7 by 25cm and weighing in at 4.1kg, the Capsule Carry On Pro also has a magnetic front panel for quick access to essentials and onboard tracking via July’s CaseSafe technology. All this is contained within sturdy polycarbonate offered in five distinctive colours, Dune, Alpine Green, Ocean Navy, Midnight Black and Plum.

Capsule Carry On Pro by July, £325, July.com, @July

Mous Wheeled Duffel

The new Wheeled Duffel bag from Mous offers a hefty 105 litres of storage within its ultra-durable 1680D ballistic nylon construction. The latest check-in bag builds on Mous’s existing 105-litre model with added durability thanks to a tie-in with the well-travelled Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Measuring 77.3 by 38.6 by 39.1cm, the bag is 6kg empty and has a hard internal structure for shape and security. Expanding sides allow you to make the most of the generous capacity, while the nylon surface is water and resistant, with precisely engineered wheels and handles – as befits a race team – and a 25-year warranty.

Wheeled Duffel by Mous, £549.99, Mous.com, @MousCase

Nudient Bold Luggage V2

The fluted form of Nudient’s newest line, Bold Luggage V2, is immediately distinctive. The Bold range is now updated with a new size and colour added to expand the series to three cases, a cabin bag and medium and large check-in models. The colourways include Charcoal Black, Urban Grey and Chestnut Brown and the Swedish company has tapped the skills of fellow countryman Jesper Ståhl to give the cases their distinct look.

Inside, the V2 Cabin Bag offers a 40-litre capacity and weighs 3.5 kg, measuring 55 by 35 by 23cm. The medium Check-In model holds 72-litres and weighs 4.7kg, with dimensions of 66 by 47 by 27cm, while its larger sibling hits the scales at 5.5kg, holds 104-litres and measures 74 by 53 by 32cm. All share the same German aerospace-grade polycarbonate shell and ABS frame construction, with hidden tracker pocket, high-grade zippers and wheels and a TSA-approved lock system.

Nudient Bold Luggage V2, Cabin Bag, £220, Check-In Bag (M), £270, Check-In Bag (L), £290, Nudient.com, @Nudient

Helium Ultimate by Delsey Paris

This ultra-light luggage range from Delsey Paris comes in three sizes, cabin and medium and large check-in, all available in burgundy, silver and anthracite finishes. The Helium Ultimate Cabin tips the scales at an impressive 2.3kg, with an expandable design that measures 55 by 35 by 20cm at its most compact. Internal volume is up to 35.5 litres.

The larger check-in models also expand; the medium model is just 3.7kg and the large 3.9kg. This weightless approach is made possible by Delsey Paris’ own ‘Vectrix’ material technology, a form of woven polycarbonate that doesn’t compromise strength.

Helium Ultimate carry-on, £320, medium check-in, £345, large check-in, £370, Delsey.com, @DelseyOfficial

There are wonders of the world to trek to and bucket-list hotels in which to celebrate life’s milestones. Then there are spa treatments worthy of a transcontinental pilgrimage. As wellness resorts and top hotels compete to create ever more ambitious experiences, the treatment itself has become reason enough to make the trip. From futuristic facials at Paris’ largest hotel spa to site-specific spa safaris in Indonesia and centuries-old purification rituals in Morocco, these are the best spa treatments to travel for.

The best spa treatments around the world

Aman Kyoto

Set at the base of the Higashiyama Mountains, within one of Kyoto’s most serene spa resorts, this three-step Purifying Journey unfolds overlooking the property’s famed Secret Garden. Over 180 minutes, guests experience a Purifying Body Polish & Wrap, Purifying Massage and Purifying Facial. The opening body treatment is designed to encourage lymphatic drainage, using quartz, seaweed-rich fucus oil, raw honey, essential oils and other mineral-rich marine ingredients. The Purifying Massage follows the same intention, while the concluding facial uses brightening pearl and further marine extracts.

Aman Kyoto is located at 1 Okitayama Washimine-cho, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8458, Japan

Ananda In The Himalayas

Ananda in the Himalayas has spent decades establishing itself as a leading authority on destination Ayurvedic wellness. In Ayurveda, the Koshtha is the body’s internal cavity, which houses the digestive and reproductive organs. During this 45-minute Abhyanga massage, a medicated castor oil known as Gadharva-hastadi thailam is applied in movements designed to follow the natural pathways of these systems. Towards the end, steam is directed over the abdomen and pelvis to deepen absorption and encourage circulation. The property’s chief operating officer, Mahesh Natarajan, says the treatment is shaped by years of research and observation, and has become a keystone of its week-long women’s health modules.

Ananda In The Himalayas is located at The Palace Estate, Narendra Nagar, Sakalana, Uttarakhand 249175, India

Lanserhof Sylt

More an immersive seven-day experience than a traditional treatment, Lanserhof’s signature programme, The Cure, has set the gold standard for holistic wellness and longevity for 40 years. Each stay is unique. Its constants are a medical assessment on arrival and a dining programme designed to support gut regeneration, a central component of The Cure. Day to day, a guest’s schedule may encompass treatments, movement, relaxation sessions, lectures, meals and downtime. For some, the on-site team may recommend Inuspheresis or neurofeedback sessions to address sleep issues and other contemporary lifestyle concerns.

Lanserhof Sylt is located at Am Lanserhof 1-8, 25992 List auf Sylt, Germany

NIHI Sumba

True wellness devotees – those regularly texting their energy healer or with standing energy-work reservations – speak of NIHI Sumba with reverence. While the wider resort experience is a coveted adventure in itself, its signature Spa Safari offers a full-day, culturally rich immersion. The fully outdoor experience brings together Sumbanese ritual, indigenous botanicals and equine therapy. Guests arrive by horseback or safari vehicle at an open-air bale overlooking the Indian Ocean, where a series of bespoke Sumbanese rituals might include the signature Sumba 7 Botanical Elixir facial, a volcanic body wrap or a Hydrating Hair Smoothie. All treatments use locally sourced ingredients and conclude with an equine massage: an elevated foot massage surrounded by horses.

NIHI Sumba is located at Hoba Wawi, Wanokaka, West Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Pendry Newport Beach

Set in Newport Beach, California’s aesthetics mecca, Spa Pendry’s Ultimate Facial is a fully customised, near two-hour treatment with maximalist intent. It is entirely high-tech, save for a glass of Champagne at the end: skin undergoes a series of zips and zaps designed to improve tone and texture, while supporting healthy ageing. The experience includes exfoliation, hydration, microcurrent, LED therapy, cryotherapy and bespoke add-ons such as dermaplaning. Its fans include Orange County’s taut and toned housewives, naturally, as well as Los Angeles’ most plugged-in beauty influencers, for whom the freeway journey may as well be a plane flight.

Pendry Newport Beach is located at 690 Newport Centre Dr, Newport Beach, CA 92660, United States

The Peninsula Paris

The largest hotel spa in Paris may be home to a striking 20-metre subterranean swimming pool, but the savvy skincare set is likely to be drawn to the property’s partnership with Parisian medspa Maison Lutetia, which brings its high-tech philosophy to a traditional luxury spa setting. The partnership’s signature Expert Cellulaire Treatment merges these two worlds through a protocol designed to improve skin metabolism and glow, using a combination of devices and hands-on techniques. A great deal is packed into its 60- or 90-minute sessions: the five-step protocol begins with an Aquapeel and electroporation to enhance absorption, followed by electrostimulation, cryotherapy and thermotherapy, before concluding with LED light therapy. There is no downtime afterwards, so guests can go straight from the spa to dinner.

The Peninsula Paris is located at 19 Av. Kléber, 75116 Paris, France

Royal Mansour Marrakech

A decadent hammam in a design-led spa is a compelling draw at any hotel, wherever it may be, but nothing compares with the real thing in Morocco, using Moroccan-made products. At Le Spa, this contemporary interpretation of the historic ritual begins on a heated marble slab, where guests recline in the humidity to soften the skin before a head-to-toe scrub with a traditional kessa glove and black soap. A cleansing rinse and invigorating cold plunge follow. The full-day hammam experience extends into a spa journey, with a traditional Takhilta hair wrap, facial, massage, lunch, shampoo and blow-dry.

Royal Mansour Marrakech is located at Rue Abou Abbas El Sebti، 40000, Morocco

Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort

Sensei Lanai is one of the few destinations where what happens after the therapist leaves the room is as memorable as the treatment itself. Tucked amid lush tropical grounds, the spa hales that host the property’s treatments can be booked for additional time following almost any solo or couples treatment. Each private, standalone space becomes a personal spa retreat, equipped with an Ofuro bath, infrared sauna, steam shower, outdoor rain shower, soaking tub, plunge pool and generous living area. The hales can also be booked as an evening experience for up to 120 minutes.

Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort is located at 1 Keomoku Highway, Lanai City, HI 96763, United States

SHA Mexico

SHA’s original location outside Madrid has earned a devoted international following for its signature seven-day health-optimisation programme. In 2024, the brand opened a second clinic in Costa Mujeres, Mexico, which this year introduced stem-cell treatments as part of its new Cellular Regeneration Programme. SHA is among the few health-optimisation clinics to offer allogeneic mesenchymal stem-cell (MSC) and exosome therapies authorised by Mexico’s national health regulator, COFEPRIS. An on-site regenerative medicine physician may recommend and administer the treatments, which are available as an add-on to the resort-clinic’s signature four- or seven-day programmes, incorporating diagnostics, biomarker analysis and personalised nutrition.

SHA Mexico is located at Carr. a Punta Sam 84, 77420 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico

On our first visit to The Horses, the final details were being attended to. In serendipitous timing, the new pub’s sign – a Renaissance-style painting of, you guessed it, horses – had been brought out, ready for installation. ‘It’s perfect. This is my first time seeing the sign,’ exclaimed Phil Winser, co-founder of Public House Group, with James Gummer and Olivier van Themsche, the trio behind London’s ‘posh pub’ favourites including The Pelican (Notting Hill), The Hart (Marylebone) and The Hero (Maida Vale). Tucked down a side street, around a ten-minute walk from Farringdon station, the new pub retains the group’s elevated take on the traditional boozer, while incorporating an elegantly casual seafood dining room upstairs that leans into the best of the British coast.

Wallpaper* dines at The Horses, London

The mood: a casually elegant ode to the sea

The interiors for The Horses were designed in-house and spearheaded by Winser himself. The team wanted to draw on the site’s history: it sits near the former Central Fish Market in Smithfield, Farringdon.

What makes The Horses so beautiful is its departure from seaside cliché, instead welcoming abstract references to the UK coastline. ‘The biggest challenge was weaving the seafood narrative into the design in a way that felt fresh and subtle, while still creating a sense of enchantment and immersion for guests,’ Winser tells Wallpaper*. ‘We spent a long time exploring familiar nautical references – light reflecting across the kitchen tiles recalls sunlight breaking on waves; delicate wool curtains reference fishing nets; and vintage motorboat ventilator covers have been cast in porcelain to create bespoke wall lights.’

The team succeeds in its restraint. Orange and yellow circular stained-glass panels divide the ground-floor dining areas, recalling washed-up sea glass. One of Winser’s favourite details is the cast-brass push plates on the doors.

‘It’s a tiny detail,’ he explains, ‘but one with a wonderful story: they are antiques salvaged from the SS Amerikanis, an old ocean liner. There’s something particularly poetic about these objects having travelled the seas and now finding a new home in a space dedicated to celebrating the produce of them.’ These details reward eagle-eyed diners – and those versed in maritime history.

The food: fresh, simple, and well executed

The dining experience shifts from floor to floor, each with its own distinct character. The pub has a warm, convivial feel, with tall panelling, upholstered ceiling panels and intimate nooks arranged around a central bar. Here, British beers are served alongside classic bar snacks, including pork pies and a scallop and bacon bap. The first floor is home to a classic oyster bar, with a large sharing table and counter seating overlooking the fish display, framed by timber cabinets.

Up another level sits the main dining room. A long, snaking banquette traces the room’s curve, while bar seating on the right follows its contours like a wave. Winser notes that the open kitchen is the focal point: ‘Low-level lighting creates a moody, theatrical atmosphere, and the bespoke wine fridges sit alongside diners, reinforcing the sense of being right at the heart of the action.’ Finally, beneath the eaves, the top floor has been designed to feel private, with a log burner and layers of soft upholstery creating a more intimate setting.

From the grill, order the Dover sole or monkfish, both well suited to the peppercorn sauce and herby garlic butter. Add a fresh salad, zingy tomatoes and, naturally, extra chips. We were advised to try the restaurant’s ‘lighter’ take on sticky toffee pudding. There was no need for a second look at the menu: a sumptuous caramel tart arrived with hints of almond and pear, alongside boozy Chantilly cream.

The Horses has an air of nostalgia, the sort of place where a smartphone feels out of place. It comes through in the setting, but also in the attentive service, which gives the experience its easy rhythm.

The Horses is located at 26-28 Ray Street London, EC1R 3DJ, United Kingdom

‘It was love at first sight’, says Philippe Starck of the first time he set foot in Portugal over a decade ago.’It is one of the few places in the world where people are proud, intelligent, beautiful, honest, hardworking and above all, kind.’ Infatuated by the Alentejo region’s cork forests, lagoons, ochre cliffs, and sunsets that set ‘the ocean on fire’, the French industrial designer and architect eventually established a second home there. That personal connection now sustains ASerra, an ambitious hospitality destination planned for the hills of Serra de Grândola, near Melides.

Inside Philippe Starck’s plans for a Portuguese paradise

Developed by private real estate firm Larfa Properties – also behind Nhà Estate, the first project designed by Philippe Starck in Vietnam – ASerra encompasses a 25-suite hotel, 22 fully serviced private villas, restaurants, wellness facilities and creative studios, all gathered around an 85-hectare village. While the hotel is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2028, the residences are now being offered off-plan, starting at €6 million (approximately US$6.8 million). Owners will have access to the hotel’s concierge and housekeeping services, restaurants, spa, creative programme, and shared spaces, intended to give the estate life throughout the year.

‘We need places that feel real and intentional,’ says Starck. ‘What people increasingly want are meaningful experiences, vision and a sense of adventure; something Alentejo still holds.’ ASerra answers with what he describes as a new kind of hospitality – highly specialised, thoughtful, personal. He adds: ‘We need to gather, to feel connected, safe, and supported. That’s the vision behind ASerra.’

Starck is not flying solo; while he’s dreamt up the sylvan interiors, he’s joined by a creative roster of local studios equally passionate about the surrounding landscape. Lisbon architecture studio Atelier AAVV, established by Miguel Passos de Almeida, has led the building’s planning and construction, while landscape architect Filipa Cardoso de Menezes of FC Arquitectura Paisagista has envisioned a lush paradise across the grounds. Developer Stéphane Delplancq stipulated from the early stages that ‘there could be no gesture, nothing added and superfluous’ to compete with the site’s hills, vegetation, and Atlantic horizon. ASerra should appear, Starck would agree, ‘as if it would have always existed’.

Like with the rest of Starck’s projects, take Brach Madrid or Maison Heler Metz, storytelling is as important as the technical minutiae. ‘I always start by writing a story that serves as a creative backbone,’ he explains. For ASerra, he imagined an odyssey through orange-red cork forests, rice fields and lagoons, eventually reaching a series of geometric dwellings akin to modernist sculptures. Inside, books, scores and instruments reveal the lives of an absent couple: a writer and a musician. The sole clue to their whereabouts is a note left on a desk: ‘Join me in the village, down below.’

This imagined passage became the organising principle of this modern version of an aldeia (a Portuguese village), embodying its charm and authenticity. Mineral structures sit uphill, while a timber village resides at the foot of the slope. Its small buildings will line a raised main street, leading guests and residents between a farm-to-table restaurant and vegetable garden, a grand café with a market-style shop, an art studio and a swimming pool. ‘ASerra was created as a living destination rather than a stand-alone hotel or residential development. Here, the freedom and intimacy of a private home meet the seamless service and refined hospitality of a luxury retreat,’ says Delplancq.

The hotel’s 25 independent suites will each deliver 70 sq m of interior space and a 90 sq m terrace, with 12 featuring private pools. A central swimming pool and an indoor-outdoor bar are expected to anchor the communal areas, alongside a convivial restaurant. Meanwhile, the 22 villas take similar visual cues, translated into long-term residence living. Starck compares them to ship or yacht cabins emerging from the terrain: intimate interiors held within concrete shells, then warmed by vegetation, terracotta, red-toned woods, natural leather and touches of gold.

‘Every space, every detail, every material has to tell a story,’ Starck says. Local artists and craftspeople will contribute to the interiors, although they have resisted a literal rendering of regional style. Instead, ASerra breathes in the talents and personalities of those who pass through it; a setting where cultures meet within what he calls a ‘refuge of living art’. At the aldeia, workshops for painting, pottery, sculpture, drawing and cooking will sit alongside a spa, Yoga Shala, children’s garden, and tennis, padel and pétanque courts. It is an enrapturing personal undertaking for Starck, reflected in the call he made after first encountering the site: ‘This is it. I think we’re finally home.’

@aserramelides

starck.com

The 50 Best Hotels has announced its 2026 ranking, amalgamating properties across 22 territories and six continents. Revealed at Les Salles du Carrousel in Paris on 15 September – the ceremony’s first edition outside London – the list sees Rosewood Hong Kong maintain its title as the world’s best hotel for a second consecutive year.

The 50 Best Hotels 2026 revealed

Bangkok clinches the remaining podium positions. Capella Bangkok rises to No.2, having led the ranking in 2024, while Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River places third. Atlantis The Royal in Dubai follows at No.4, receiving both the best hotel in the Middle East and best beach hotel awards. At No.5, Passalacqua on Lake Como retains the best boutique hotel title for a third year.

Rosewood Hong Kong’s win also makes it the best hotel in Asia. Designed by Tony Chi, the 65-storey Victoria Harbour landmark opened in 2019 with 413 rooms and suites, 11 restaurants and bars, and the multi-level Asaya wellness concept.

The position reflects a prominent Asian presence across the top 50: the continent claims 18 places and seven of the top ten. Mandarin Oriental Qianmen in Beijing arrives at No.7, Upper House Hong Kong at No. 8, and Mandarin Oriental Bangkok at No.10. In addition, Japan contributes four properties, led by Aman Tokyo at No.11, with Patina Osaka taking No.33 and the best new hotel award.

Meanwhile, Europe is home to the largest share of hotels on the list, with 21 entries. Italy and France secure six apiece, and the UK claims four. Passalacqua is the continent’s highest-ranked hotel, followed by Four Seasons Firenze at No.12. Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore’s Casa Maria Luigia makes its debut at No.18, earning the highest new entry award. Paris has four hotels in contention: Hôtel de Crillon climbs nine places to No.14, ahead of Le Bristol at No.19, Cheval Blanc Paris at No.20 and newcomer Plaza Athénée at No.41. Beyond the capital, Hôtel du Couvent in Nice ranks at No.38 and receives the Art of Design Award. Claridge’s leads the UK at No.13, with Raffles London at The OWO at No.28 and The Connaught at No.49. Estelle Manor in Oxfordshire rises four positions to No.43.

The ranking also welcomes ten new entries across seven destinations. Alongside Casa Maria Luigia and Plaza Athénée, the arrivals include San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara at No.22, The Peninsula Istanbul at No.31, Amangiri in Utah at No. 45, and Aman Nai Lert in Bangkok at No.48.

Elsewhere, Rosewood São Paulo makes an 18-place ascent to No.6, becoming the highest-ranked hotel in South America. Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos climbs 19 positions to No.25 and takes the highest climber award, while Chablé Yucatán places ninth and wins the Eco Hotel Award following an assessment by the Sustainable Restaurant Association.

Royal Mansour in Marrakech and Mount Nelson in Cape Town represent Africa, with Capella Sydney standing as Oceania’s sole entry. Nihi Hotels co-founder James McBride receives the Icon Award, while Badrutt’s Palace in St Moritz is recognised for its approach to hospitality.

Now in its fourth year, The World’s 50 Best Hotels is determined by an academy of more than 800 hoteliers, travel journalists – including Wallpaper*’s own travel director Lauren Ho, who serves as the European Academy Chair – educators and experienced travellers across 13 regions, with Deloitte independently adjudicating the results.

The 50 Best Hotels 2026 list:

1. Rosewood Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

2. Capella Bangkok (Bangkok)

3. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River (Bangkok)

4. Atlantis The Royal (Dubai)

5. Passalacqua (Lake Como)

6. Rosewood São Paulo (São Paulo)

7. Mandarin Oriental Qianmen (Beijing)

8. Upper House Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

9. Chablé Yucatán (Chocholá)

10. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok (Bangkok)

11. Aman Tokyo (Tokyo)

12. Four Seasons Firenze (Florence)

13. Claridge's (London)

14. Hôtel de Crillon (Paris)

15. Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab (Dubai)

16. Capella Sydney (Sydney)

17. Raffles Singapore (Singapore)

18. Casa Maria Luigia (Modena)

19. Le Bristol (Paris)

20. Cheval Blanc Paris (Paris)

21. Desa Potato Head (Bali)

22. San Ysidro Ranch (Santa Barbara)

23. One&Only Mandarina (Riviera Nayarit)

24. Bulgari Tokyo (Tokyo)

25. Las Ventanas al Paraíso (Los Cabos)

26. Royal Mansour (Marrakech)

27. Four Seasons Astir Palace (Athens)

28. Raffles London at The OWO (London)

29. Copacabana Palace (Rio de Janeiro)

30. The Taj Mahal Palace (Mumbai)

31. The Peninsula Istanbul (Istanbul)

32. Bulgari Roma (Rome)

33. Patina Osaka (Osaka)

34. Mount Nelson (Cape Town)

35. Nihi Sumba (Sumba Island)

36. Badrutt's Palace (St. Moritz)

37. Park Hyatt Kyoto (Kyoto)

38. Hôtel du Couvent (Nice)

39. Portrait Milano (Milan)

40. Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo (Monaco)

41. Plaza Athénée (Paris)

42. Hotel Sacher Vienna (Vienna)

43. Estelle Manor (Witney)

44. Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc (Antibes)

45. Amangiri (Canyon Point)

46. The Peninsula Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

47. Maroma (Riviera Maya)

48. Aman Nai Lert (Bangkok)

49. The Connaught (London)

50. San Domenico Palace (Taormina)

the50.com

Better known for their mega-structural cultural works around the world, such as the monumental Beijing City Library, Norwegian practice Snøhetta have dialled the scale right down for this new project in their home city of Oslo.

The new élan coffee bar in the historic Kvadraturen district spent the past decade as the showroom for Magnat Kaffehus, a commercial-grade supplier of high-quality coffee to businesses around the city. Seeking a way to put their wares before a wider market, the company turned to Snøhetta to shape élan, transforming the showroom into a public coffee bar that blends the Nordic Neo-Baroque of the original Sjøfartsbygningen building with contemporary forms and materials.

The historic façade is certainly intriguing, with curved brick, oxidised copper detailing and fluted stone columns anchoring the retail site to the ground. Inside élan, there are some clear material and stylistic parallels, from the rich turquoise colour of the sculptural, torus-shaped ceiling-mounted speaker installation to the way that the stone columns have been paired with semi-circular timber benches.

The rest of the décor is very coffee adjacent, with dark stained oak and natural cork finishes evoking the richness of the blend itself. All-in-all, it’s the art, craft and ritual of the coffee-brewing process that is being celebrated, with that unmistakable scent permeating through the space. The central circular oak counter is paired with a solid, highly sculptural chunk of heat-treated cork supplied by Corkinho, drawing an unmistakeable parallel with coffee grounds and a steaming stimulant.

‘Rather than creating a conventional counter where guests and baristas stand on opposite sides, we wanted to create a new centre point for the interaction,’ says Snøhetta’s Peter Girgis, the Interior Architect on the project, ‘I think there's magic in creating curiosity around everyday routines. One way of achieving that is to shuffle the pieces around a little.’

Elements like the oversized menu board, the bean-like circular sofa (actually Snøhetta’s own Array modular sofa designed for MDF Italia) and the array of beans for sale all conjure up a rich, evocative atmosphere. It’s all very intentional, with the red skinned coffee berry providing a visual jumping off point, with other quoted colours include the green of the raw bean and the dark browns of the drink itself.

The ceiling speaker installation plays a bespoke soundscape, with Snøhetta designed designing the fixtures and fittings in house, executed by specialist contractor Henriksen Snekkeri.

‘We didn’t want furniture with too much character of its own. Instead, we wanted pieces that would complete the overall expression while allowing attention to remain focused on the heart of the space, creating a sense of calm and balance,’ says Marlene Fenger Vedal, Head of Interior Architecture at Snøhetta and project lead for élan, ‘The ceiling and the counter are the lead actors here, while the furniture belongs to the ensemble, functioning as an integral part of the fixed interior.’

This monolithic interior is complemented by Jonas von der Fehr’s specially commissioned soundscape, The Sound of élan, which serves as an aural guide through the different spatial zones. ‘The compositions evolve gradually, allowing listeners to discover new details along the way without having to follow the music from beginning to end,’ says von der Fehr, ‘The score was also conceived with a sound shower in mind, where audio is delivered through a directional horn suspended from the ceiling. As a result, the music is designed so that guests can move in and out of it, whether they pause for a brief moment or stay to listen for longer.’

Whether your tastes run to sound design, bespoke design or simply an impressive cup of coffee, élan is a destination worth seeking out.

élan coffee bar, Kirkegata 7, Oslo, elancoffee.no, @elan.Oslo, MagnatKaffehus.noSnøhetta.com, @Snøhetta

Long queues, a cacophony of final calls and a maze of wheelie bags – airports rarely soothe the nervous system. Sala Pedra Preta, Brazilian bank Itaú’s new flagship lounge in Terminal 3 of São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport, offers a sculptural reprieve. Operated by Plaza Premium Group, it welcomes holders of the Itaú Personnalité The One Mastercard Black and World Legend Mastercard, alongside select Itaú Private Bank clients.

Sala Pedra Preta, São Paulo

The project brought together global practice Perkins&Will, responsible for the architecture and interiors, and famed Brazilian studio Estúdio Campana, which led the art direction and environmental curation. Its approximately 1,400 sq m effortlessly meshes spaces for rest, work, gathering, dining and wellbeing. ‘The inspiration came entirely from the landscape,’ Humberto Campana tells Wallpaper*. ‘I wanted the journey to begin the moment the traveller enters the space – to feel as though they are already embarking on a journey through Brazilian landscapes.’

That journey begins before guests reach the threshold. Estúdio Campana’s façade wraps the lounge in a sculptural skin of Brazilian Goiabão wood, translating the Juruá River’s curves, seen from above, into 1,000 sq m of overlapping veneer. The result turns the private lounge’s boundary into a public artwork – ‘certainly an eye-catcher to travellers’, as described by Campana. Its sinuous timber forms create ‘a sense of warmth and movement’ that carries through to the sofas and the lounge beyond.

The sylvan interiors carry the subtropical lilt of Estudio Campana’s Brazilian roots and expound on the studio's devotion to ethical design and community support. Craft and materials evoke landscapes across the country, from the night skies of Jalapão in Tocantins and the delicate vegetation of the Cerrado to Rio de Janeiro’s mountains and the cliffs of Rio Grande do Norte. ‘Ultimately, I wanted to create an invitation to travel through Brazil: its landscapes, its topographies and its different ecosystems,’ adds Campana.

The furniture’s simple forms belie the labour behind them. At reception, the ‘Pão de Açúcar’ counter is clad in overlapping walnut veneer, applied by hand by a team of 14 over 120 working days. Above it, the ‘Paisagem’ chandelier gathers roughly a quarter-tonne of twisted aluminium into a gold-toned canopy that casts light like foliage.

Aluminium takes another form at the Personnalité Restaurant, where the Cosmos installation suspends around half a tonne of rods in a constellation visible to lounge guests and passengers passing through Terminal 3. In the Private Bank area, the emphasis returns to intricate handwork: drawing on the studio’s ‘Sushi’ collection, the Falésias installation winds hundreds of metres of EVA, metal strips and rubber into orange, black and gold spirals – an undertaking of around 800 hours. The bar front adds another distinctive texture, clad in pirarucu leather made from the skin of an Amazonian freshwater fish once discarded as waste.

Curated by Instituto Itaú Cultural, the art collection includes works by Roberto Burle Marx, Tomie Ohtake, Candido Portinari, Di Cavalcanti, Beatriz Milhazes, Vik Muniz, Leda Catunda and Athos Bulcão, among others. Gastronomy comes from chef Luiz Filipe Souza of Evvai, with wines selected by sommelier Juliana Carani.

For Campana, the spatial logic was as important as the objects. ‘The space is organic yet streamlined,’ he says. ‘Everything flows, creating a sense of spatial lightness – almost like the wings of an aeroplane.’ It also marked a significant moment for the studio following the death of his brother and co-founder, Fernando, in 2022. ‘It was our first architectural project since Fernando passed away,’ he adds. ‘So it was an important moment for the studio.’

estudiocampana.com.br

Bloomsbury is one of London’s most studious neighbourhoods, with a rich history as the home of writers and thinkers. Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster belonged to the influential Bloomsbury Group, while Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens and Bob Marley all lived in the area at various points.

Russell Square feels like the perfect autumn day all year round. From the historic architecture of Gower Street to the secluded garden squares that offer an escape from the noise of London, its bookish atmosphere brings comfort to the city’s more introverted residents. The latest arrival in the neighbourhood is The Imperial Bloomsbury, a contemporary hotel set just behind Russell Square’s main thoroughfare.

Wallpaper* checks in at The Imperial Bloomsbury, London

What’s on your doorstep?

From the hotel, I recommend strolling to the British Museum. En route, stop at Momo’s Garden Café, a charming coffee stand in Gordon Square serving delicious cakes – its banana bread is particularly good – and a flat white that is actually a flat white. Turn onto Gower Street, admire the Gothic architecture and gargoyles perched above, then continue to Store Street, where you’ll find Treadwell’s, an atmospheric bookshop specialising in magic and witchcraft, before arriving at the museum. For an escape from the tourists, head behind the hotel to Fortitude Bakehouse, an excellent bakery tucked into the mews. From there, follow Marchmont Street past its cafés, restaurants and pubs towards the British Library and King’s Cross station.

Who’s behind the design?

The hotel first opened in 1905, in a building designed by Charles Fitzroy Doll. Architects at Cube Design retained its striking concrete façade while restoring many of its original features. The 357-room hotel now has reimagined interiors by Trevillion Interiors and Keane Brands, conceived as a tribute to the area’s creative spirit.

The building’s Edwardian character is balanced with modernist elements. As the designers at Keane tell Wallpaper*: ‘We avoided recreating a period interior. Instead, we treated the building’s history as a series of layers: its original Edwardian, neo-Gothic character and its later bold modernist architecture.’

They continue: ‘The existing concrete and geometric forms became a “Brutalist canvas”, softened with midcentury furniture, warm textures, seasonal colour and carefully integrated lighting. History therefore informed the design without dictating it. Architectural geometry is echoed subtly in patterns and detailing, while curated artwork and references to Bloomsbury bring a strong sense of place. The result is a contemporary space that respects the building’s past while giving it a fresh identity.’

The room to book

Although every room feels warm and inviting, The Hideaway is the one to book. Its small outdoor terrace features seating and a ‘hidden’ bathtub tucked beneath a pavilion – a playful take on the conventional hotel room. Keane explains that the team sought to soften the building’s concrete character through contrast, introducing natural timber, upholstery and textured fabrics.

‘Curved furniture and organic forms counterbalance the façade’s strong geometry, while planting and layered, golden lighting bring warmth and softness throughout,’ the designers say. ‘The concrete remains an important part of the building’s identity, but these richer, more human materials make the space feel welcoming rather than austere.’

Staying for drinks and dinner?

On the tenth floor, guests will find Arcus, a bar perched high above Bloomsbury. Hotel restaurants can sometimes feel barren, turning dinner into a transactional experience. Arcus is far from that. On our visit, the room was vibrant and busy, set against the London skyline with the BT Tower glowing in the distance. It is difficult for the panoramic view not to become part of the experience. The cocktail list is indulgent, combining original creations with familiar classics. The food menu is light, leaning towards snacks rather than full meals, which suits the setting. Both the steak and the lamb tacos were delicious.

Where to switch off

The gym is generously sized and even has an outdoor terrace where guests can cool down after a session. Fully equipped with Technogym machines, free weights and kettlebells, it is well suited to light resistance training, kettlebell workouts and bodyweight exercises. It is considerably larger than the average hotel gym, although you should not expect to be squatting any PBs.

The Bell Room and Terrace offers another place to unwind over board games, all-day grazing or an intimate conversation. Its name comes from the five bells on the adjoining terrace, which have been a feature of the hotel since it opened. Access is reserved for guests staying in the premium room categories: City, Horizon, Hideaway, Nest and Beacon.

The verdict

The Imperial feels like an escape within the city, which celebrates its context’s rich history while also feeling fresh and relevant.

The Imperial is located at 61, 66 Russell Sq, London WC1B 5BB, United Kingdom

When Japan hosted world leaders for the 2019 G20 Osaka summit, its organisers put gyokuro tea at the top of the menu. Served to the delegation during the event’s formal reception as an acknowledgement of its diplomatic weight, the pouring of this singular Japanese tea told a story of ceremony and respect.

Inspired by China’s internationally respected tea heritage, gyokuro emerged in the early 19th century as a product of Japan’s ambition to develop its own signature tea. Unlike traditional sencha green tea, which is grown in the sun, gyokuro can only be grown in the dark, shaded by up to four layers of textile that gradually obscure natural light. Served to prominent international guests in moments of high-stakes diplomacy, this ceremonial tea was originally reserved for imperial court poetry readings and state occasions.

Eastern philosophy: Tour Circadian tea atelier in Berlin

Today, two cultural histories converge with the present at the new HQ of Berlin-based tea atelier Circadian. Across 230 sq m of minimally renovated interiors within Funkhaus – East Berlin’s GDR-era former radio broadcasting centre, designed by Bauhaus-trained architect Franz Ehrlich – Circadian founder Mahmoud Abdelhafez has realised his vision for an ambient space, uniting principles of sensuality through taste, tactility, sight and sound. Sunshine pours through the atelier windows, illuminating an original Soviet-era timber floor, a ghostly remark on the building’s history.

A bespoke, poured-concrete table, produced by a Swiss maker in a north Berlin workshop, features a hefty top and sculptural pedestal, while embedded LED light strips mark the midpoint, intentionally separating the guest side, defined by a row of five Pierre Jeanneret-inspired oak and rattan chairs, from the serving side. Traditional tea ceremonies place a lead guest at the head of the table, but Abdelhafez has opted for a more egalitarian seating philosophy that invites groups of up to five to share a more intimate, guided experience.

Building on ideals of modernism borrowed from Japanese design principles and the Bauhaus, Abdelhafez has created an atelier that can offer a unique experience alongside precise, technology-driven tea production inspired by traditional brewing techniques. Embracing what he refers to as the ‘tension’ between old and new through a blend of vintage furniture and bespoke brutalist designs, features that complement the space’s industrial feel, Circadian’s home speaks a minimalist language enlivened by material storytelling.

Coveted by Berlin’s gallerists, tastemakers and business executives as an alcohol-free alternative to ritualistic refreshment, Circadian’s ice-brewed gyokuro tea is served not in ceramic cups, as one might expect, but in delicate, long-stemmed wine glasses by German glassware brand Zieher. ‘We are borrowing from the sake tradition, with a nod to wine-drinking principles,’ says Abdelhafez. ‘The tea is not highly aromatic; gyukuro is a controlled aroma, and the closed glass shape concentrates it. As with wine, the long stem should maintain the cool temperature.’

Abdelhafez took on the raw space at Funkhaus as a singular shell, void of division. While maintaining the building’s architectural essence is a condition of long-term access (with its conservators insisting on preserving the original eggshell-blue painted concrete pillars and beams visible at the rear), partition walls have been introduced to create a regulation-compliant production space. Housing specialist brewing equipment, including bespoke pressurised tanks adapted from cider-making processes by Norwegian company Brewtools, this largely invisible but essential zone is grounded by original 1950s floor tiles and a new drainage system, where old and new converge.

‘I think the most prominent note on designing the space has been not messing with what was already here,’ says Abdelhafez. ‘We have retained the same look and feel, without interfering too much with the original shell, designing the interior to fit.’

While only the front third of the atelier is used for ceremonial purposes, the mid-section serves as an open kitchen and office space for the Circadian team, and has been designed with equal intent. Copper tiles and sinks in the kitchen and bathroom consider the metal’s innate antimicrobial properties, while the black finish that frames the kitchen is continued across the ceiling. ‘Black is the equaliser of all teas,’ explains Abdelhafez. ‘In a busy tea auction market, all teas are usually lined up on black plates. Farmers, buyers and sellers can instantly see if there are any impurities with the tea on black plates.’

Decorative elements are kept to a minimum within the atelier, save for a handful of plants and some sparsely hung abstract works by Swiss artist Tanja Schaub. Abdelhafez references the influence of Swiss geometry on his vision for the atelier, a design approach rooted in the precision and grid-structure-focused graphic design style that emerged in the 1950s, the same decade in which Funkhaus was constructed. While misplaced minimalism has been known to hint at a hollow brand philosophy, Abdelhafez’s vision for Circadian comes to life with conviction, amplifying the authenticity upheld by his personal pursuit of the art of gyokuro.

Circadian is located at Nalepastrasse 18, 12459 Berlin, Germany

Wallpaper’s October 2026 Guest Editors’ Issue is available from 3 September, in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Completed in 1908, Nara Prison was the last of Japan’s ‘Five Great Meiji Prisons,’ a clutch of Western-inspired penitentiaries built to showcase the country’s modernisation and openness to the foreign world. Architect Keijiro Yamashita designed the Romanesque, brick-walled complex, modelling its central detention house on architect John Haviland’s radial prison design: Five cell blocks radiate from a central surveillance station, allowing a few guards to monitor hundreds of prisoners. In 2017, the last inmates were transferred, and the iron gate clanged shut. The complex was designated an Important Cultural Property and slated for transformation into a new luxury retreat.

Less than a decade later, the gate has reopened. The exterior is unchanged, but tucked inside are two new entities: The Hoshinoya Nara Prison Hotel and Nara Prison Museum. While some guests remain apprehensive about sleeping in a former prison, the hotel preserves and elevates the interior architecture without reducing it to a gimmick. Staff, many transferred from other Hoshino properties, are warm and assured; afternoon tea and evening ‘gramophone soirees’ enliven the space. Ultimately, the property positions itself as a turn-of-the-century heritage stay, leaving the prison’s more sombre stories to the museum.

Wallpaper* checks in at Hoshinoya Nara Prison Hotel

What’s on your doorstep?

Nara Prison was built at the north edge of town and is surrounded mostly by residential streets. The main attraction is Nara Prison Museum, and it's worth spending an afternoon learning about the history and current state of Japan's criminal justice system. Hotel guests can slip out a private side door to visit free of charge and enjoy exclusive after-hours access to preserved Cell Block D.

A popular day trip destination from Kyoto, Nara is also home to several UNESCO World Heritage sites. The property is a quick taxi ride from Todai-ji Temple and the 660-hectare Nara Park, where hundreds of sacred deer roam free.

Who is behind the design?

Rie Azuma of Azuma Architect & Associates helmed the transformation from prison to hotel, while Hiroki Hasegawa of Studio Onsite oversaw landscape design.

The property’s heritage designation forced the designers into tight constraints. A ‘before and after’ of the halls reveals the same skylights, whitewashed railings, and steel support beams overhead, though plush pewter carpeting adorned with navy sunburst medallions has been laid, and contemporary layered lighting adds an inviting glow. Throughout public spaces, Azuma preserved as many original architectural elements as possible, from wood plank flooring outside the chapel-turned-lounge to the exposed steel support beams and shorter-than-average interior doors. Art is sparse but thoughtfully chosen to reflect the vibrancy and optimism of early 20th-century Japan. The end design is a careful balance of historic floors, walls, arches, and window frames with a Western-style Art Deco colour palette and furnishings.

The room to book

Each of the 48 long, narrow suites was formed from a strand of either nine, ten, or eleven original cells. The 11-cell deluxe suites are the clear standout, and not only because they're the largest. In addition to spacious dressing rooms with chaise lounges, they include a complimentary mini bar with local spirits, a record player-like CD player with a small music library, local teas and bath salts, and thick-knit wool blend socks made in Nara.

In all rooms, the prison-issue white plaster was carefully removed to expose hand-laid red brick walls. Alternating walls are left raw, covered in warm wood panelling, or hand-brushed in shimmery silver-grey or cerulean paint. The ceilings and windows are high, affording no views beyond treetops and sky. Through those clerestory-like barred windows, framed in new wood, beams of sunlight create a dance of patterns on the walls that change throughout the day. The sum of all these parts? A space resplendent in cosy, cocooning privacy.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Dining at Nara Prison Hotel is limited to breakfast and dinner sets, though the adjacent museum offers a curry bread lunch. As with other Hoshino Resorts, meals follow strict reservation timetables. There are a trio of breakfast sets: Japanese, Meiji-style, and Western, with requisite bounties of seasonal fruit and rice or bread assortments. Return later for the signature Gastronomy Chronicle supper, a light-hearted, French-inspired culinary journey through the 20th century, including a starter with five bites of Western culture to represent the Meiji era, breaded sole in Albert sauce, and, for dessert, fluffy chocolate mousse cake.

​Step outside and walk across the courtyard to indulge in a cocktail, whiskey, or brandy from the Dining Lounge. This former storehouse features a glimmering wall of windows, jewel-toned upholstery, and an old gramophone hand-cranked by staff.

Where to switch off

The hotel has no spa, pool, or fitness centre. The vaulted prison chapel, however, has been transformed into a sumptuous lounge that hosts afternoon tea and an evening fragrance-blending workshop. The left wing, awash in sunlight filtered through translucent windows, offers complimentary drinks and nibbles throughout the day – green tea in the morning, sparkling sake in the evening – along with plush armchairs and chaises. To the right are private alcoves with luxuriously deep sofas. Soaring ceilings buttressed by thick wooden beams, soft rosewood floors, and layered contemporary lighting create an airy, relaxed atmosphere that belies the building’s history.

The lounge beckons year-round, but in pleasant weather, there’s freedom in snagging a chair in the courtyard-like yard between the Dining Lounge and Dining Room. A raised white boardwalk crisscrosses ornamental grasses, leading to tables and chairs set here and there for coffee or a book in the sunshine. It’s difficult to overstate the pleasure of the outdoors when relaxing beneath a barred window once used for solitary confinement.

The verdict

Nara has far more centrally located hotels, including those that offer a more classic Japanese atmosphere, but Hoshinoya Nara Prison Hotel is as distinctive as they come. Beautifully renovated without losing the architecture's original character, and with delightful heritage experiences in a naturally contemplative setting, this hotel makes a great short stay for unwinding after a few days spent exploring Nara or nearby Kyoto.

Hoshinoya Nara Prison is located at 18 Hannyajicho, Nara, 630-8102, Japan

‘What does America look like?’ is a question whose answer has shifted incessantly across National Geographic’s 138-year history, from frontier landscapes and postwar prosperity to a nation tussling with its own complexities and contradictions. A new tome from Taschen meshes those perspectives together, using the magazine’s archive to survey the United States through a century of photography.

Tour the history, people, and beauty of the United States 

On the cover, the Mayflower II – a reproduction of the 17th-century ship – enters New York Harbour in 1957, greeted by a flotilla beneath a silver US Navy airship, with the Manhattan skyline hovering in the distance. Captured by B Anthony Stewart, the brilliant photograph perfectly frames the country’s founding mythology, technological ambition and appetite for spectacle, setting the tone for the 792 pages that follow.

National Geographic. The United States of America takes shape as a substantial XL Taschen edition. Organised geographically, the title journeys alphabetically through all 50 states before turning to US territories. Each chapter opens with a quote that waxes lyrical about its destination, drawn from figures ranging from musicians and scientists to authors and poets, which is then followed by an introduction by travel writer Joe Yogerst that traces the state’s history, culture and regional identity alongside National Geographic’s own coverage.

Recurring subjects include the grandeur of the American landscape, the growth of its cities, industrial and agricultural labour, transport, leisure, religion and regional traditions – all captured through a candid, occasionally irreverent lens. Collectively, the photographs chart the country’s shift from an agricultural and industrial power towards an increasingly urban, suburban and consumer-driven society, while objectively registering the environmental damage and social tensions that accompanied its growth.

National Geographic. The United States of America also maps the evolution of photographic technology. Early black-and-white images and Autochromes from the 1920s and 1930s give way to the saturated Kodachrome photography that came to define National Geographic’s postwar identity. During the 1970s and 1980s, staged scenes and picturesque travel imagery were increasingly joined by documentary work confronting pollution, poverty, urban decline and cultural change. Digital photography closes the century with an expansive, often ambiguous portrait of American life.

Photography editor David Walker examines this evolution in his introductory essay, ‘America the Beautiful’. He considers how the magazine’s photographers helped construct an aspirational national image rooted in exploration, prosperity and individualism, while frequently reinforcing the perspective of white, middle-class America. As its editorial priorities evolved, the archive began to accommodate a fuller and increasingly complex picture of the country – one marked by social unrest, ecological damage and regional identities threatened by economic and technological development.

The evolution can also be traced through the photographers themselves. Early figures including B Anthony Stewart, J Baylor Roberts, W Robert Moore and Willard R Culver arguably initiated the magazine’s carefully composed visual language. Later generations – among them William Albert Allard, Jodi Cobb, Nathan Benn, Jim Richardson, Cary Wolinsky and Michael Melford – introduced documentary immediacy, psychological depth and increasingly individual approaches to colour and composition.

Edited by Reuel Golden and designed by Andy Disl, the book pairs its photographs with captions by Jeff Z Klein and illustrations by Cristóbal Schmal. Its generous format allows each image to act as historical evidence, editorial construction and object of visual nostalgia. The 250th-anniversary edition revisits material first published by Taschen in 2016, presenting it anew at a moment when American identity is once again under intense examination.

‘National Geographic. The United States of America’, published by Taschen, is available now, priced £125

Storied jewellery and silverware house Buccellati and Armenian-Lebanese interior designer Chahan Minassian work together like caviar and mother-of-pearl. Having previously collaborated on the expansion of the Maison’s Milan flagship store with the opening of a grand ‘Piano Nobile’ showroom on its first floor, their creative partnership is back in bloom with an intimate caviar bar overlooking the courtyard.

Experience Buccellati’s Art de la Table in Milan

Dedicated to the art of entertainment, the new space visually references Buccellati’s timeless caviar tableware collection: an emblematic range dating back to the 1930s and beloved for its signature micro-beaded motif and exceptional silversmithing craftsmanship. The Palazzo’s Neoclassical bones, originally designed by Luigi Chierichetti and completed in 1839, converse effortlessly with the soothing colour palette that defines the furnishings and fixtures.

‘Maintaining a residential spirit was essential,’ says Chahan Minassian. ‘The objective was to create an interior that felt welcoming and lived-in while preserving the architectural grandeur of Palazzo Gavazzi. The mirrors introduce light, movement and depth, while the materials, textiles and Murano glass bring warmth and intimacy.’

Past a gallery-style entrance, the caviar bar unfolds across two levels, with a glazed mezzanine overlooking a central bar and an arrangement of plush lounge chairs and sculptural bistro tables that are reserved for clients and guests. Above, vaulted surfaces, clad entirely in copper, silver and smoky-grey mirrored panels, split daylight across the room.

Throughout, silvery greys and taupes co-exist with accents of bronze and gold, while velvet, Fortuny fabrics, textured leather and custom rugs counter the harder reflective surfaces. Minassian designed each piece of furniture for the room, then added vintage Murano glass chandeliers with a characteristic amber light. The same colours and materials appeared in Minassian’s earlier work on the Piano Nobile, creating continuity between Buccellati’s retail and hospitality spaces.

Alongside the micro-beaded caviar line-up, including wine glasses, holders, and serving plates, are Buccellati’s pieces made with Ginori, coloured glass from its Murano Collection and the Furry Animals series of sculptural silver creatures, as presented during the 2025 edition of Milan Design Week.

Buccellati is located at Via Monte Napoleone, 23, 20121 Milan, Italy

From Santiago Calatrava’s helical red-and-white Peace Bridge to Foster + Partners’ crescent-shaped The Bow, Calgary’s urban identity is seemingly defined by bold contemporary statements and relentless upward transformation. Yet those whose gaze extends beyond its palaces in the sky will be rewarded with midcentury gems and storied landmarks that carry memories of the city’s past. Making a case for the dynamism of adaptive reuse is the new restaurant Stable Palms Club, situated amid Kensington’s urban buzz and adjacent to well-known landmarks such as the Plaza Theatre and the Pointe Flatiron building.

The site was formerly home to Molly Malone’s, a long-standing Irish pub deeply woven into the neighbourhood’s social fabric, and later to Free House. Independent restaurant and nightlife group Block Hospitality collaborated with local design studio Way of Normal to transform the cavernous 3,600 sq ft space into a seductive midcentury Californian-style home primed for hosting.

Wallpaper* dines at Stable Palms Club, Cagalry

The mood: California comes to Calgary

Way of Normal approached the project as a conversation between intimate, interconnected rooms, each adopting the logic and scale of a private home. At its centre, the stainless-steel and red-oak bar acts as a visual stronghold, furnished with bespoke metal stools and small lamps mounted directly onto the counter. Beyond it, a sculptural archway frames a partially concealed sunken lounge that recalls a sultry conversation pit. Mirrors, portals and shifts in floor height extend this sense of discovery, obscuring the full plan from the entrance so guests can peel Stable Palms Club’s layers gradually.

The material palette continues the residential theme. Red oak envelops ceilings, beams, walls and fitted joinery in the amber density of a well-preserved 1960s house, punctuated throughout the dining room by stainless steel, aluminium, stone and deep-green zellige tiles. The treatment continues on the upper dining tier, where steel cladding introduces a cooler, sharper surface. These forms draw on Populuxe and Googie design, channelling the expressive architecture of roadside restaurants, motels and the space-age years into swooping openings, circular cut-outs and broad timber planes.

Elsewhere, custom joinery, commissioned lighting and furniture establish a consistent scale across the rooms. The dining tables alone took a year to develop, while several bespoke lights required over 18 months. Where possible, production was kept local, with reclaimed timber and aluminium used alongside reworked vintage furniture. Plants, table lamps and artwork bring the residential fiction into focus.

The food: elevated home comforts

Familiar smaller plates are given an inventive turn. Raw oysters come with classic mignonette and rhubarb hot sauce; bluefin tuna zuke is paired with fresh wasabi; and Southern-fried chicken thighs are marinated in koji and dill pickle. Mains then grow heartier with slow-cooked duck breast, brown-butter parsnip purée and apple jam; sea bass with fregola, asparagus and herb oil; and a 45-day dry-aged T-bone accompanied by black garlic, mushroom butter and veal consommé.

Chef Jordan Mayo says the menu has ‘something for everyone’; its breadth is shaped by French and Italian references. His recommendation? The entirely house-made beef burger with Gruyère, soubise onion and pickles, served alongside fries and a veal-stock bordelaise. He also singles out the ricotta gnocchi with lobster and fried focaccia croutons as an increasingly popular choice. Room for dessert? The brown-butter caramel tart arrives with malt ice cream and a sprinkling of sea salt, while the Black Forest sundae layers kirsch ice cream with macerated cherries.

That appetite for unexpected combinations continues at the bar, where Zachary Fox and Justin Dysiak preside over a programme of bright, refreshing cocktails made with irreverent ingredients and techniques. The ‘Et-Tu Brute?’ is a clarified Caesar in which frozen cherry tomatoes replace ice cubes, preventing dilution. ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, meanwhile, combines Italian tomato gin and balsamic vermouth to create a caprese-inspired Negroni.

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London diners have become used to the idea of a sushi-based omakase menu; now this Fitzrovia import – the first European outpost of Ushio Haruyoshi Bettei in Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu – is introducing the capital to multi-course menus of wagyu beef. Put aside any preconceptions of fatty meat, however: the dinner-only restaurant specialises in akami (lean) wagyu rather than heavy marbling. Almost all the meat has been imported from Japan, along with the chefs who grill it and the ceramics it’s served on – not great for air miles, perhaps, but a guarantee of the niche authenticity the restaurant offers.

Wallpaper* dines at Wagyu Yakiniku Ushio, London

The mood: Counter-top cool

The restaurant’s interiors have been modelled on the Fukuoka original, with the best seats arranged around the L-shaped counter behind which the chefs sear and serve, though unless you speak Japanese, don’t expect much in the way of cheffy chat. Not that beef-based banter is the point, says chef-owner Hakusei Chin. ‘At Ushio, we’ve always believed that the quality of the ingredients and the skill of the chef should speak for themselves, so we wanted the space to feel equally calm and focused.’

He’s certainly managed that. All the staff – from the chefs to the saké-pouring sommeliers – are charm itself, while ceramics sourced from Kyushu display the same individual character. A backlit shelf behind the counter carries ceramics from Arita, the Kyushu town where Japan’s first porcelain was fired four centuries ago. Some of it is Ko-Imari, the heavily decorated porcelain that Europe bought by the shipload from the 1600s; some from Lin, a modern range glazed to a metallic finish. Vases holding seasonal flowers come courtesy of ceramicist Taeko Kajihara, who builds her pieces by hand instead of throwing them on a wheel.

‘Rather than expressing Japan through decoration,’ Chin says, ‘we chose to work with natural materials like wood, stone and plaster, and to keep the space as minimal as possible. In doing so, the counter and the act of cooking naturally become the centre of the experience.’ That minimalism extends to the lack of any obvious signage on the exterior, but rest assured that once inside, the experience doesn’t feel in the slightest bit unwelcoming.

The food: Lean cuisine

Each course of beef, whether from an omakase of A5 wagyu, a six-piece tasting selection or the à la carte, arrives with a card with the relevant cut stamped on an illustration of a cow. First comes top blade served sashimi-style, the pink meat lightly scored and faintly marbled; it looks almost like a slice of fatty tuna garnished with a shiso leaf but tastes powerfully and lingeringly of beefy umami.

The rest of the cuts come cooked, treated to the briefest of sears on the grills (‘yakiniku’ means ‘grilled meat’ in Japanese) before being flipped over and plated up. One arrangement features a trio of tongue, tenderloin and kurimi (lean shoulder), simply seasoned with salt; another plate brings top blade lightly glazed with tare. The richest-tasting of all is sirloin seared with sukiyaki marinade and presented with an egg yolk and a dome of steamed rice.

This lighter style of beef, the restaurant claims, is higher in protein and lower in fat than traditional wagyu, with the result common to many omakase meals that you may still be hungry at the end. If you’re feeling peckish, ask for an extra course of Fukuoka-style wagyu curry of slow-cooked beef tendon, its gravy-like sauce scooped up with a wooden spoon – it’s as comfortingly unsophisticated as the rest of the meal has been elegantly refined.

Wagyu Yakiniku Ushio is located at 12 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 2LU, UK.

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The white stucco church with a crucifix-topped bell tower on the corner of Lucile Avenue and Griffith Park Boulevard in Silver Lake has stood as a local landmark for almost a century. Originally constructed in 1931 as Bethany Presbyterian, the building was put to various uses before sadly spending the best part of the last decade vacant, bar a brief spell as an antiques market.

Now, Casetta, the California-based boutique hotel group that specialises in breathing new life into architecturally significant properties, have made it the sixth addition to their portfolio and pulled off a wholly remarkable act of resurrection. Not only is the gracefully refurbished and rechristened Hotel Lucile ideally located for exploring the east side of Los Angeles and beyond, but it’s also home to Sous Sous, a superlative restaurant set inside the church’s high-ceilinged nave with a menu that blends Southern French cuisine with Deep South flavour.

Wallpaper* checks into Hotel Lucile, Los Angeles

What’s on your doorstep?

Silver Lake has long been established as the trendy, creative heart of east Los Angeles, but strangely the neighbourhood has limited hotel options. The opening of Hotel Lucile may be bad news for the area’s AirBnb hosts, but it’s a winning development for anyone seeking an elegant stay within stumbling distance of Sunset Junction. Many of the city’s best and buzziest bars and restaurants, including the Seco, Bar Stella, Bacari and Night + Market Song, are all just moments away. Outdoor activity hubs such as Silver Lake Reservoir and Griffith Park are also close by, as is Barnsdall Art Park and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House. The hotel has teamed up with the Usal Outdoor Research Center to provide guests with a tailored field guide to local experiences.

Who is behind the design?

The Romanesque Revival-style church was designed by architect Scott Quintin in 1930 and built at a cost of around $75,000 (equivalent to just under $1.5 million in 2026). Casetta’s tasteful renovation was overseen by architecture and interior design studio Electric Bowery, led by Lucia Bartholomew and Cayley Lambur, who say they set out to celebrate the church’s ‘European sensibility’. The central nave of the building is now occupied by the restaurant, Sous Sous, with a food concept by The Butcher’s Daughter founder and creative director Heather Tierney.

The original wooden beams, vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows have all been lovingly preserved and are complemented by two large, impressive murals by the classically trained oil painter Erin Lynn Welsh. Each references the local landscape: The deep red mural above the chancel stage pays tribute to Altadena’s Eaton Canyon, which was devastated by wildfire in January 2025, while at the other end of the space is a verdant green scene inspired by the native flora of Elysian Park.

The room to book

Hotel Lucile’s 25 guest rooms are designed in a refined, minimalist style, featuring Parachute linens and Aesop bath amenities. The walls display original works by local Los Angeles artists, curated by the Rhett Baruch Gallery. Minibars are stocked with select products from the nearby Erewhon market, including sea salt popcorn, dark chocolate protein bites and Anytime organic vodka and gin. Wellness products such as a hydrating sheet mask and citrus-vanilla vitamin C gel are also available. The pick of the rooms is number 106, known as the Lucile Suite, which has a living room and its own private courtyard.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

The hotel’s restaurant Sous Sous dominates the main building, and seems destined to become a Silver Lake institution in its own right. In part, this is due to the sanctified ambience that remains in the beautifully renovated space, but it’s also down to the earthly delights being cooked up in the kitchen. Led by Chef Patrick Costa and bar director Lee Zaremba, the restaurant’s inspired mingling of Southern Californian ingredients, Southern French recipes and flavours drawn from the American South leads to some ingenious creations.

The Green Tomato Margarita is one such example, a crisp, refreshing twist on the classic cocktail served with a rim of espelette pepper and Old Bay seasoning. The hamachi crudo pulls off a similar trick, with Virginia peanuts and red pepper relish lending the yellowtail a Deep South tang. There’s also warm, crunchy country bread that seems to have appeared directly from a farmhouse in Provence, but the star of the show is the delicate rainbow trout served with a smoky, Cajun-style blackened polenta crust. Given the surroundings, it seems apt that Sous Sous does miraculous things with loaves and fishes.

Where to switch off

The spacious rooftop deck, which is reserved for guests only, offers panoramic views of Silver Lake. There’s also a pool tucked away in a sun-kissed grotto below street level, which may be too small for swimming laps but is just the right size for sipping cocktails.

What’s the verdict?

Hotel Lucile might have rested on the laurels provided by its prime Sunset Junction location, but thankfully it has loftier ambitions. The gorgeous stained glass windows and innovative menu at Sous Sous make it a restaurant worth proselytising about, while the hotel’s commitment to showcasing local artists on its walls suggests a sincere intention to restore this former church to the centre of its community. Silver Lake’s prayers have been answered.

Hotel Lucile is located at 1629 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90026, United States