"Bad boy chefs", members club industry predictions, Arnault's alleged blackmail case
What I made for Thanksgiving in Milan
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Stanza. Today’s email is light and fun due to minimal current events for the holiday week, and is sponsored by Peoplevine, so no paywall.
For those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving last night, I hope you had a wonderful time. Sometimes the holidays can be stressful, but if you’re lucky, you’ll be surrounded by people you love and care about. Here’s what I cooked last night for my “Milangeles Thanksgiving” (plus hot honey cornbread and pumpkin chai tiramisu, not pictured but crowd favorites):
In today’s newsletter: Thomas Straker, Maison Rocher, members clubs, Saks Potts, Miami Art Week, Jil Sander, Sarah Rutson, Lighthouse, Sant Ambroeus, Bernard Arnault
COSPLAYING RESTAURANT CRITIC
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, I finally got to try the infamous Straker’s and I was not disappointed. I was able to snag a prime time 8:30PM Saturday reservation the Wednesday prior through Dorsia (which they were able to move to 9PM last minute!), and if you’re not a member and you live in a major city in the US/EU, you’re missing out (skip the waitlist here and use code THESTANZA).
After being stuck in the EU for 2 years, I had been craving food that’s crafted with creativity and originality. A friend from LA is visiting for Thanksgiving, and he was shocked that I said that the food in Milan is “not that good”. Sure, the quality of ingredients is better here, but eating the same traditional recipes over and over is boring! Anyways, I digress.
In my mind, Thomas Straker is the UK’s Travis Lett (Gjelina, Gjusta). Both are handsome “bad boy” chefs who have their own scandalous lore outside of the kitchen.
Long story short: the food was incredible, service was 7/10 (plus points for the kind host who greeted us outside of the restaurant, but minus points for the waitress who couldn’t be bothered), extensive wine list but no natural wines. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss:
VISUALLY INTERESTING
2025 MEMBERS CLUB INDUSTRY PREDICTIONS
In partnership with Peoplevine, the top CRM software for the top membership businesses. Book a free demo to see why the best brands trust Peoplevine.
More institutional investors will be financing members clubs
According to Mordor Intelligence via Knight Frank, the members club sector is projected to grow annually by 11% to $25.8B by 2027. Members clubs add value to the real estate surrounding them. For example, country homes in the Cotswolds within a 15 minute drive of Soho Farmhouse sell 2.5 weeks faster than comparable homes 5 miles away.
In metropolitan cities, proximity to members clubs from offices and residential buildings are sold as an amenity, similar to how proximity to grocery stores and gyms are listed as benefits.
In recent years, one of the barriers to entry for new clubs has been trying to convince lenders and equity investors why they should finance a new club brand. Now that they've become so popular, institutional investors and lenders will have to learn how to underwrite these businesses.
Wellness clubs saw real traction in 2024 and that will continue into 2025
There is a decent sized pipeline of wellness clubs that are launching in the next couple years, and the key theme for wellness clubs in major cities is sober socializing.
The club brands that have thoughtful programming designed to connect members over activities that don't include alcohol will be the most successful in the long run, versus the clubs that are purely designed as an amenities space.
The private members club bubble will begin to burst
People who live in cities like New York or London have developed high expectations after experiencing the current wave of members clubs that are positioned primarily as hospitality businesses. Because they've become so popular, arguably too many new clubs have opened and therefore people have more choices now than ever.
Therefore, the clubs that will survive are the ones that realize what they're selling is access to a highly curated community, meaning they don't sell memberships just to recoup the investment needed to build a club. That being said, the clubs that have opened with purely commercial goals will likely struggle the most to maintain this integrity.
Keen to discuss? Write to me via the comments section of this Substack post.
THE STANZA’S DEAL SHEET
Lighthouse, a hotel booking & management software formerly known as OTA Insight, raised a $370M Series C round led by KKR. The round mints the UK start up as a unicorn. B2B SaaS funding in Europe is on an upwards trend this year, coming in at $8.9B thus far, compared to $7.5B in 2023. Curious - are you an investor in B2B SaaS for hospitality? Reply to this email.
THIS WEEK’S CURATION
Sant Ambroeus is opening in Paris next year. It’ll be the second European location after Milan.
This week I published an interview with long time fashion exec Sarah Rutson, who made her mark as one of the best fashion buyers during her time at Lane Crawford Hong Kong and at Net-a-Porter. We spoke candidly about what it takes to run a fashion business, the state of the industry, and fundraising in tough times. Listen here.
For those of you in Miami, WWD has compiled a list of fashion / art activations here. If you’re a Dorsia member, you get access to VIP tickets straight off the Dorsia app to a pretty solid line up of events. My picks: Circoloco x Mayan Warrior ($250) and Sol a Sol at The Moore ($100+; Chloe Caillet and Guy Gerber are headlining). There’s also access to the Adam Port party ($250), which a lot of you would probably be into.
Danish “cool girl” brand Saks Potts is closing, but apparently not purely for financial reasons. Saks Potts is known for those trendy shearling trim coats, and the two co-founders, Catherine Saks and Barbara Potts, announced on IG that after 10 years, they would be closing the brand citing other career opportunities and financial difficulties after their largest stockist Matches Fashion shuttering, despite achieving 50% DTC e-commerce growth. It’s a respectable move - not every brand needs to grow to an exit or to a behemoth. Ending on a largely positive note and seeing the experience as a “real life MBA” is a good way to say goodbye, and I hope more emerging brands make a similar decision instead of reaching the point of bankruptcy or administration (and bad PR).
One of my favorite independent publications, HURS, interviewed Jil Sander about her prolific fashion career for her new book launch, “Jil Sander by Jil Sander”. Easy weekend reading.
Yesterday, Bernard Arnault testified in Paris criminal court that he was unaware that his former security consultant, Bernard Squarcini, had been illegally collecting private information on individuals during his time with LVMH. One of the hot topics was if Arnault was unaware of someone trying to extort €300,000 with photos of him and another woman. While he is not being accused of wrongdoing, the trial comes at an inopportune time, when luxury is slowing down globally and his succession plans are scrutinized by the fashion industry and its stakeholders.