Celeste

Sometimes you just walk around Notting Hill and think ‘what crime against humanity would I have to commit to live in one of these unbelievably opulent houses?’ The intensely wealthy streets of this beautiful corner of west London is where you’ll find Celeste, a members club set in one of those townhouses that also has a publicly accessible restaurant on the ground floor. From the same group as Maison Estelle private members club on Grafton Street and exclusive Cotswolds hotel, Estelle Manor, if you’re willing to part with £2,400 a year you may also enjoy an izakaya style restaurant on the building’s second floor.

The dining room of Celeste is split between a sultry gilded bar space and an airy conservatory. The food at Celeste is ‘Italian American with a Californian twist’, and so the menu veers between mamma-used-to-make classics like meatballs and ragu bolognese, and several types of raw fish crudo. The staff at Celeste are extremely on it, as befits at venue where most of it is locked away to the proletariat. 

A good one for a bit of ‘how the other half life’ if you’re in the area. Try not to squat in a hedge fund manager’s ill-gotten palace while you’re in the vicinity.