These are the best restaurateurs whose trendy dining venues such as The Wolseley, Colbert and The Delaunay draw the rich and famous.
But Chris Corbin and Jeremy King have been hit as hard by the pandemic as places with less stars.
And now, I can reveal, the couple are heading into a £ 1million High Court showdown with one of their owners, STJ Investments.
This is a Jersey-based company reportedly controlled by Vladimir Zemtsov, a secret oligarch of Russian origin who has Belgian nationality but has large real estate investments in London.
Corbin & King Restaurant Group, which has been forced to close its establishments during much of the pandemic, owe more than £ 300,000 in rent for the first floor premises of Wolseley in Piccadilly, London, while the Wolseley restaurant is owned owes nearly £ 1million in unpaid rent, it is claimed.
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King have been as hard hit by the pandemic as places with less stars
The pair are heading towards a £ 1million High Court showdown with one of their owners, STJ Investments
It’s a blow to Corbin and King, who met in the 1970s while working at Langan’s Brewery and Joe Allen’s respectively.
They bought Le Caprice and turned it into a star-studded hangout where Princess Diana was a regular.
They then opened the show business lair The Ivy, before working their magic on the fish restaurant J Sheekey.
Their restaurants have become known for the three “C’s”: cuisine, celebrity and chic.
They opened London’s first successful grand café, The Wolseley, in a Grade II-listed vintage car showroom that became a bank in 2003.
The late artist Lucian Freud was a regular and he persuaded King to sit down for a portrait.
“It’s very sad to have come to this point,” one of the couple’s friends tells me.
“Their six other London owners were all happy to agree to concessions to help the company stay afloat and keep staff paid during the crisis.”
King tells me, “It is so disappointing that this particular owner has chosen this path unnecessarily, but I have no doubts that the matter will be resolved quickly and fairly with the support of our insurers.”
A spokesperson for STJ Investments declined to comment
Mogg joins the battle to save Churchill from “wokery”
House of Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has found a radical way to defeat those hoping to change the name of Churchill College, Cambridge.
Yesterday I revealed that “serious plans” were being considered to abandon Churchill, who has been condemned by some “awakened” radicals as a “white supremacist.”
Rees-Mogg exclaims, “We must not allow this awakening to happen. The idea of changing Churchill College!
“Maybe we should introduce a bill to rename Cambridge to Churchill and call it Churchill University. It would be a stroke of the eye for lefties.
Sienna and her sister are the next big thing
Hollywood star Sienna Miller had plans to become a fashion figure, but her efforts failed when the Twenty8Twelve label she started with her sister, Savannah, collapsed nine years ago.
Luckily, Sienna, 39, the former fiancée of Jude Law, is always on the front lines to applaud her sister’s sartorial success.
Hollywood star Sienna Miller had plans to become a fashion figure, but her efforts failed when the Twenty8Twelve label she started with her sister, Savannah, collapsed nine years ago.
She joined Savannah, 42, in London yesterday for the launch of her first fashion line for the High Street giant Next.
“There is no rivalry between us,” insists Savannah.
“We are incredibly close. We are accomplices in the crime.
Both women wore tops from the new line, Savannah conspicuously wearing a top with a pocket that had the word “sister” written on it.
Isn’t it delicious when the actors are honest about their roles?
Jurassic Park star Sam Neill admits to being “completely confused” on the set of the superhero blockbuster Thor.
“I never understood any of Thor’s films,” he says.
“In fact, the entire Marvel Universe is a complete mystery to me.”
Neill, 73, born in Northern Ireland, adds: “I was standing next to [co-star] Jenny Morris and I said, “Do you know what planet we are on? I was completely baffled.
Bunter reels in his new title of Grandpa
After moving into the 17th century badminton house after inheriting the title of Duke of Beaufort, rocker Harry ‘Bunter’ Worcester is adjusting to another great role: being a grandfather.
His son and heir, Bobby, Marquis of Worcester, 32, and wife Lucy Yorke-Long, 34, are celebrating the birth of their first child.
Bobby, Marquis of Worcester, 32, and wife Lucy Yorke-Long, 34, celebrate the birth of their first child
Baby Henry will eventually inherit the 52,000-acre Gloucestershire estate and the family’s estimated £ 315million fortune
It was a boy named Henry who would eventually inherit the 52,000-acre Gloucestershire estate and the family’s estimated £ 315million fortune.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Bunter, 69, tells me.
“It is with great pride that I became a grandfather for the first time.
Not many people know … but Sir Michael Caine is struggling to sell his huge Surrey mansion.
I’ve heard that the Hollywood star, 88, has slashed the price of the seven-bedroom house by £ 250,000.
The property, which the two-time Oscar winner bought for £ 1million 22 years ago, features an indoor swimming pool, hot tub, leisure complex and gym sports facilities, as well as a cinema.
Its failure to sell is surprising as there was a boom in demand for country homes during the pandemic.
The asking price is £ 3.5million.
Sam Cam’s brother: I stopped making the rich laughexpensive
David Cameron’s desperate attempts to make his fortune since stepping down as Prime Minister have put him in hot water, but his colorful brother-in-law revealed he quit his own job because he hated “giving back. the rich richer ”.
Samantha Cameron’s half-brother Robert Sheffield, who was director of Christie’s auction house, says: “I felt like we weren’t really supporting our generation or the cultural voice of our time.
Robert Sheffield and his model girlfriend, Ellen Gibbons, now run the glorious estate of Sutton Park in Yorkshire from his baronet father Sir Reginald Sheffield
“I felt I was just making the rich richer. I felt quite bankrupt emotionally and spiritually.
Fortunately, he had a comfortable legacy to fall back on: he and his model girlfriend, Ellen Gibbons, now run the glorious estate of Sutton Park in Yorkshire from his baronet father, Sir Reginald Sheffield.
National Treasure Dame Judi Dench fears her friends think she’s snubbing them.
But the reason she keeps walking past people is because of her failing eyesight.
“I cut people to death all the time because I can’t see them,” admits the Oscar-winning actor, 86, who suffers from macular degeneration.
“I don’t know who it is – and that, for me, is terribly painful because I can walk past someone I know very well.”