Seasons, rooms, prices
Journal
Private dining has a calendar: chalets in February, villas in July, city tables in November. Twelve pieces on where the money, the chefs and the tables are going.
RIEDEL
Glassware · 21 October 2026RIEDEL at 270: wine glass experiences with Maximilian Riedel in London and Harrogate
On 9 November in London and 11 November in Harrogate, Maximilian Riedel shows how the shape of a glass changes a wine. Every guest takes a Superleggero tasting set home.
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Dom Pérignon
Champagne · 21 October 2026Dom Pérignon Révélations 2026: Vintage 2018 and the idea of place
Dom Pérignon devoted its annual Révélations to the theme of place and presented Vintage 2018, the first vintage made entirely under Cellar Master Vincent Chaperon.
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Krug
Champagne · 21 October 2026Krug and Max Richter: three champagnes from 2008, three pieces of music
Three champagnes from the 2008 harvest and three new pieces by Max Richter: Krug’s Every Note Counts came to life at the Roundhouse in London with tasting, live music and fine dining.
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Journal
The arithmeticWhat a private dinner actually costs in 2026
Five cost blocks, three markets and the number that surprises every host: the food is rarely more than a third of the bill..
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Journal
The season mapThe chef circuit: where the good cooks are, month by month
The same fifty chefs cook the Alps in February, the Côte d’Azur in August and the Gulf in January.
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Journal
A format that grew upThe one night restaurant
Restaurant brigades now rebuild themselves for a single evening in a private room, and the food can be better than the restaurant they came from..
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Journal
Embers and liabilityFire cooking in rented villas, and the rules nobody reads
Open flame has become the default luxury menu, and it is banned or restricted in more places than most hosts realise..
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Journal
Four services, seven daysThe economics of a chalet week
Why the Christmas fortnight costs twice February, what a crew actually consists of, and the single line that saves a week..
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Journal
Architecture follows dinnerThe quiet return of the dining room
Twenty years of open plan produced kitchens you can watch and dinners you cannot hear.
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Journal
Five blocks and three questionsHow to read a catering quote
The cheapest quote is usually the one missing the most hours.
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Journal
The hands, not the foodStaffing is the real constraint
Good service staff are the scarcest resource in private dining, and the market has repriced them faster than anything on the menu..
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Journal
Technique, not substitutionThe vegetable centrepiece stopped being a compromise
A whole roasted celeriac carved at the table now holds a menu in the way a joint of meat does, and the technique is harder..
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Journal
In writing, two days aheadThe dietary conversation, done properly
Most dinners now carry three or four requirements at the table.
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Journal
The cheapest upgradeA sommelier for one evening
Four hundred euros buys you correct temperatures, a decanted bottle, poured glasses all evening and a host who never touches a corkscrew..
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Journal
One in the morningThe late supper is back, and it is the best value course you can buy
Twelve to thirty five euros a head, served at one in the morning, and it is what guests talk about on the way home..
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