IDRIS Elba’s plans to expand his wine bar company into Battersea have been pulled, according to his business partner.
The actor and entrepreneur had planned to open an outpost in the power station with David Farber but they couldn’t find the people to work there. Farber told us at the Boisdale Music Awards last night: “In the end we couldn’t get staff. Without staff you can’t run a restaurant.”
The pair’s restaurant in King’s Cross is extremely popular, opening last year. The actor, inset, makes his own champagne, which he serves at the venue. Stars including Edward Enninful and Emma Weymouth attended the launch party last year. A-list actor Elba has many strings to his bow, working as a DJ and ambassador for brands including Superdry. He also has a skincare firm with his wife Sabrina.
The regenerated Battersea Power Station has its grand opening next month.
Rees-Mogg won’t burn the midnight oil
New Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg didn’t quite woo civil servants in his office welcome speech last week. Rees-Mogg, who once led a drive to stop Whitehall working from home by leaving notes on employees’ desks, joked that they were safe during his talk. He thanked some for “burning the midnight oil” at work, before wondering if he could say that any more thanks to fossil fuels. He then tried and failed to find a green alternative. His department, BEIS, stands for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, so that’s reassuring.
No nudity for Parker Bowles
A memorable sight at the launch of the Lucian Freud exhibition at the National Gallery Last Night was Andrew Parker Bowles standing in front of his own portrait in his uniform as a guards officer (see above).
“It took eighteen months”, he told us. “When he was painting he didn’t talk, and when he wasn’t painting he did”. The Brigadier was unusual among the sitters in having his clothes on. “I unbuttoned my jacket and Freud made me keep it off”, he said. “I said he had made my stomach look big and he went ahead and added another inch. You didn’t argue with him.” So, would he have taken his clothes off, if Freud had insisted? “Certainly not” he said. “If he could make Kate Moss look bad naked, just think what he’d have done to me”.
In the pink with The Big Pink
HOMELAND STAR Damien Lewis looked dapper as he cuddled new partner Alison Mosshart at an album launch for Robbie Furze’s band The Big Pink at House of KOKO in Camden last night. There too were DJ Mary Charteris, who is Furze’s wife, actor Jazzy de Lisser and The Crown’s Matt Smith. In Canary Wharf, thesp Hugh Laurie, who also dabbles in the blues, and singer Sinitta were at the fun Boisdale Music Awards party with restaurant owner Ra. Elsewhere, Brenda Edwards and Linda Robson were at the Magic Mike Live Gala Night in support of Men’s Minds Matter at The Hippodrome.
Toasting a new Moët bar at Harrods
Actors Laura Carmichael and Gemma Chan and model Jourdan Dunn sipped Moët & Chandon to launch the brand’s new bar, opening at Harrods next month. Downton Abbey star Carmichael said she celebrated moving house with “takeaway fish and chips and champagne”. Lady Crawley would be proud.
