The Rake April 2017 - Issue 51

I have a friend. Probably the only really close friend I met in college. And though we speak at most once a year, and see each other every half-decade, we’ve always picked up effortlessly where we left off. He’s a guy I always admired and was a little bit in awe of. Because he was the first person I knew who made any real money. The way we met was intriguing. He’d moved into my dorm halfway through my freshman year, having been — the rumour was — bounced out of Harvard for never attending classes. It seemed that he was determined to repeat this pattern at his new school, as I never saw him actually attend any lectures. Instead he’d be ensconced on an inverted, industrialsize garbage can. Seated…

To paraphrase my twin brother’s best-man speech at my wedding, my wife and I will have a new pea for our pod by the time this magazine is in your hands, dear reader. I’m going to be a dad. At the time of writing (D-Day minus circa four weeks), you can usually find me in one of two camps. Camp one is the excitable-but-serene camp, rearing its head occasionally at the sight of an angelic child behaving impeccably. Camp two is eerily similar to that scene in Zulu when Chard and Bromhead fall silent against a terrifying noise heading in their direction, which prompts this response from Michael Caine’s Bromhead: “Damn funny, like, like a train in the distance.” Regardless of the pros and cons, it’s an exciting time. It’s an…

As well as The Rake, Nick — a historian and author and surely London’s most prominent luxury commentator — writes for periodicals including How To Spend It, Financial Times, The Independent, Vanity Fair and The Daily Telegraph. Among his many published tomes to date are the Count d’Orsay biography Last of the Dandies (2005), Dunhill by Design (2006), TAG Heuer (2009), Cigar Style (2008), Gentlemen and Blackguards: Gambling Mania and the Plot to Steal the Derby of 1844 (2010), and Swans, Legends of the Jet Society (2013). Last year, Bernard Buffet: The Invention of the Modern Mega-Artist was released to great critical acclaim. In this issue, Nick combines his personal affection for, and his encyclopedic knowledge of, the venerable leather brand Connolly in documenting their return to the retail stage…

In its valedictory round-up of 1968’s most notable people, the magazine Newsweek singled out the year’s headliners: Che Guevara, Christiaan Barnard and Gigi Rizzi. Gigi who? It was a name to conjure with — indeed, it sounded like an unbeatable submission in the porn-star name game — but Rizzi had done something more momentous and epoch-making than, say, foment Marxist revolution across Latin America or perform the first human-to-human heart transplant. That summer he had become the most envied man on the planet as the playboy consort of the ultimate French bombshell, Brigitte Bardot. Photos of the time show Bardot and Rizzi cutting a swathe through various palmfringed rivieras — Saint- Tropez, of course, where Bardot held court in her villa, La Madrague, but also Capri, where she had shot Contempt…

RAKE COMMENDS There are numerous reasons to visit Mexico, but it’s worth going for the food alone. The nation’s vibrant capital feeds some of its 21 million inhabitants from its numerous street stalls, which are located on practically every street corner. For the best, head to the Coyoacán market or Mercado de Antojitos and seek out traditional snacks that predate the arrival of Columbus, such as tlacoyos (grilled, stuffed oval-shaped corn masa) or pozole (a hominy, pork and chili pepper stew). Where Mexico City, and the rest of the country, is undergoing a radical change, however, is in the growth of world-class fine-dining establishments. This trend was arguably kicked off by the opening 17 years ago of Pujol, which has become one of Mexico’s most famous eateries and is among the…

Hear the name Rex Harrison and you will surely picture an avuncular, patrician figure in a cardigan or top hat and tails, gently soothing a Cockney waif or some peculiar animal or other. Should your film knowledge predate the 1960s Victoriana of My Fair Lady and Doctor Dolittle, you might envision a very British matinee idol, overcoming an Empire-conquering well of reserve to declare his passion to some lovely girl. Neither of these images, however, come close to the great actor’s true nature. In life, rather than on the screen or stage, he was a bounder and a cad, his undeniable charm and considerable talent barely disguising a misanthropic streak a mile wide. Married six times, with countless affairs and a number of scandals to be taken into consideration, he…