Issues

Jil Sander is bringing its modern, understated aesthetic to London

The house of Jil Sander operates in a world of its own, divorced from trends, the fashion industry’s rigorous schedules and expectations for seasonal renewal. Not that it ever really sought to be part of the collective. When founder Heidemarie Jiline Sander presented her first womenswear collection in 1973 in Hamburg, she wanted to address professional women like herself with pared-back, modernist designs: the smartest wool trousers, the most elegant outerwear and the sharpest white shirts. Her debut collection instantly sold out and, soon after, women the world over couldn’t imagine buying wardrobe staples anywhere else.

In the 1980s, Sander decamped to Milan, finding ways to participate in the city’s fashion week on her own terms: her shows were always early morning affairs, her models were fresh-faced and dressed in pared-back looks that could be taken straight from the runway to the streets. She disregarded editors’ preference for late-night events, supermodel appearances and loud design, even if it meant that she rarely made front-page news. She was more interested in making clothes that enhanced the day-to-day lives of men and women – and did just that throughout the 1980s and 1990s, often referred to as the brand’s heyday.

The 2000s were less stable, as Sander stepped down as creative director (she returned briefly in 2003 and 2012). The business changed many hands: from the Prada Group to private-equity firm Change Capital Partners, then Japan’s Onward Holdings Co and finally the current owner, OTB Group. Under OTB, the brand has reclaimed its individualist spirit and, along the way, regained cultural relevance and legions of new, loyal customers. This is thanks to Luke and Lucie Meier, who took over as co-creative directors in 2017. The husband-and-wife team didn’t set out to revive Jil Sander by following the usual branding playbook, often requiring a new logo, a highly publicised ad campaign and drastic change in design direction. They chose to focus on looser interpretations of Sander’s original independent spirit and sense of pragmatism, building a design language of their own – one that is based on intuition, the imagery they are drawn to, the architecture that inspires them and the conversations that they have with each other. “Lucie is always right,” says Luke, jokingly.

The designers stress that they don’t believe in hierarchies. In their studio in Milan, there’s always an open dialogue and they encourage everyone to add their own perspective to the briefs they set at the beginning of each season. “Interestingly, we usually arrive exactly where we set off at the beginning but it’s also important to leave the door open for the unexpected and allow a lot of meandering along the way,” says Luke, who applies the same attitude to his own life and career. Born in Canada, he moved from his home in Vancouver to study finance in Washington and business policy at Oxford University, before studying fashion at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and Florence’s Polimoda. He became Supreme’s head designer after a chance meeting with its founder, James Jebbia, and went on to co-found the streetwear label OAMC. Lucie, who spent her early years in the Swiss village of Zermatt, followed a more traditional path into the industry, studying fashion marketing at Polimoda (where the two met) and going on to work for some of the most established houses in Paris, including Louis Vuitton and Dior.

Their experience stretches from rarefied haute couture to mainstream streetwear design, from the offices of dynamic New York start-ups to the ateliers of Paris’s most storied houses and from quaint, countryside living to life in urban, fast-paced fashion capitals. But the couple refuse to attach themselves, or Jil Sander, to any labels, instead bringing the full breadth of their identities and rich backgrounds into their work. “You could say that we’re Canadian and Swiss but we moved around so much in our formative years, it doesn’t feel like we’re from one single place,” says Lucie. “Our studio is the same. It’s fully international and everyone brings their own experiences and points of view.” At a time when brands are doubling down on national identity, the Meiers are going against the grain. “That’s an asset, right?” says Luke.

“Minimalist” is another label that the pair are eager to shed from the Jil Sander brand. Despite their affinity for neutral colour palettes and timeless silhouettes, including plenty of tailoring, they believe that “minimalism is old and boring”, and opt for simplicity or purity instead. “Even if you do something very bold, the approach can still be simple,” says Lucie, while Luke nods in agreement. “Pure or simple doesn’t mean boring, while minimalism can veer towards it,” he says. “You can have something fully embroidered or something in colour but it’s still a pure version of that design. There’s a bit more energy in this approach.”

This is why they always make a point to sprinkle playful details into their collections. Their autumn/winter 2023 range incorporated splashes of pastels, checkerboard patterns and 1990s-inspired colour-block leather, which took everyone by surprise. “The 1990s were a formative time for us, from the music to the cultural exchange that was happening,” says Luke, who is dressed in a pair of black-and-white leather trousers from the collection. “It felt inspiring and positive. I was studying at Oxford, I lived in New York for a while and felt that there was this open dialogue around the world, while now it seems like things are getting more insular and people want to close borders.” For Lucie, who is dressed in the kind of elegant black-and-white tailoring you would more easily associate with Jil Sander, the element of surprise remains important. “People might already expect something when they come to our shows or our shops but we need to exceed those expectations.”

That was also the thinking behind Jil Sander’s new retail concept, formally introduced on London’s Bond Street this year. The aim was to surprise customers by marrying the purist design that the brand is known for with something warmer. “It’s easy to make something simple,” says Luke. “But to do something that’s simple but also has personality, soul and a warm energy is actually very difficult.” “It comes down to considering everything from colour to materials, and the small details such as the curves on the shelving. It all comes together to create this intimacy.”

Indeed, the new space feels like a breath of fresh air on Bond Street, where new openings have become less frequent of late. At the door, smiling staff in crisp white shirts set the tone, while inside, the sense of warmth that the Meiers were aiming for is immediately felt through the use of raw travertine, brass poles that create more private, intimate sections and subtle touches of colour, like the pair of silver-blue benches, created using recycled CDs. There’s enough product on display to encourage browsing – a refreshing change from current design trends where shop floors are sparse and boutiques resemble museums. “The idea of slick, quite intimidating spaces is in the past,” says Luke. “There needs to be an element of discovery and you should feel like you’re having a unique experience. The sounds, the interaction with people, need to be at a very high level. This isn’t just a place where you come and pick something up; it’s a place to experience.”

Despite the ephemeral nature of fashion, the Meiers apply this long-term thinking to all their projects, whether retail design, their seasonal collections or their ongoing print project, Jil Sander Publishing. Their latest volume, Manchester, was made in collaboration with UK photographer Chris Rhodes, whose portraits of musicians and DJs, such as Jeff Mills, reflect the designers’ fascination with the 1990s. “We don’t like loud, online [communication],” says Luke. “With print there’s a curatorial element: every page deliberately follows the next rather than having a series of hyperlinks that send you into a labyrinth,” says Luke. “Having the perspective of someone like Jeff Mills about the late 1990s was so interesting because there are so many parallels with what’s going on today. Technology was becoming part of people’s daily lives and there was more information exchange – the difference was that there was more optimism back then. We want to encourage people to think a little bit more like that again, instead of seeing darkness everywhere and thinking that artificial intelligence will destroy the world.”

At a time of global uncertainty, using creativity to inject a dash of optimism into the world is what the Meiers are ultimately hoping to achieve. “We’re not naive enough to think that what we’re doing is saving the world in any way,” says Luke. “But if we can inspire someone, work with great artisans who care about what they’re doing, that’s really important. In the end, it’s about good materials, good people, good design and a rigorous thought process – that’s our medium for commenting on the world.”

jilsander.com

North Bennet Street School keeping American craft alive

“There’s something fundamentally human and satisfying about working with one’s hands,” says Sarah Turner, president of the North Bennet Street School (NBSS), which was founded in 1881. A metalsmith and jeweller, Turner is standing in its spacious lobby in Boston’s historic North End neighbourhood. The room doubles as a gallery that showcases handmade objects including a wooden Windsor chair, a Queen Anne writing desk and leatherbound books. These are just a few examples of what the students here can learn to make.

When Monocle visits, the students have just returned for the semester and the red-brick building, a former printing press and police station, is buzzing with the sounds of people tinkering. Some 150 full-time students are enrolled in the school on programmes in everything from bookbinding to violin-making and repair, preservation carpentry, furniture-making, piano technology, jewellery and locksmithing.

Courses at the NBSS are taught using the Sloyd Method, a 19th-century Scandinavian teaching system designed to cultivate hand skills. The school’s motto – “A good life, built by hand” – reflects this tactile approach. Any modern machine tool that’s used in these workshops is there to supplement handheld ones, not replace them. “We are creating a generation of people who are capable of using the latest technology but who can also use the tried-and-true methods of old-fashioned hand craftsmanship,” says Turner.

As niche and Old World as it sounds, inquiries into courses at the NBSS have increased by 45 per cent over the past three years. Turner has her suspicions as to why. “People are reconsidering how they want to live and we shine a light on an appealing alternative.” Students, she says, are attracted to the idea that it’s possible to swap today’s screens, offices and tertiary academic courses for a seemingly bygone way of life: plying hands to a trade and building a viable career in the wood shop or bindery.

First, though, one must become a master craftsperson. No former experience is necessary but those who are admitted must commit themselves to punctuality and put in the hours – sometimes 10 hours a day, five days a week. Despite these rigours, they arrive from across the US and range from recent high school graduates and career-changers to retirees who are ready for reinvention. 

The first class that Monocle visits is preservation carpentry. Here, students learn how to maintain historical buildings – a fitting course for a state and city with so many pre-20th-century buildings. In a large, light-filled room, students mill around heritage window sashes that they are repairing under the watchful gaze of their instructor. They will clean the panels, rebuild them with linseed-oil putty and paint them, before the sashes are returned to Memorial Hall in Charlestown, Massachusetts, an 18th-century landmark.

Among them is Matthew Horn, who left a steady, senior-career technology job at Google to study here. “I feel way more alive working with my hands than when I was staring at computers all day,” he says. Not far away is Maya Meltsner, who relocated here from Washington in order to pursue her passion. “I left my job where I worked as a legal administrative assistant for five years,” she tells Monocle, while manoeuvring around a sash with utmost focus. “And before you ask, no, there’s no going back.”

Elsewhere in the building, in a hushed, slightly darker room, we find the bookbinders. “This is a very Boston programme,” says instructor Jeff Altepeter. “So many poets and writers come from here: Emerson, Hawthorne, Alcott.” Looking around the room, we see a quintessentially bookish crowd: eight people at their lamplit desks, surrounded by stacks of paper and books. Here, they are busily repairing cloth and leather bindings. 

Most books today are bound mechanically but collectable editions and leather volumes are often still put together by hand in small batches. Many of these students will go on to be the US’s future binders, who will keep this tradition alive. Among them is India Patel. “I used to work for a private press,” she says. “Though I was dealing with books, no one told me that there was this pathway that involved making them physically.”

As niche and romantic as these industries might seem, graduates leave the NBSS with a strong chance of securing employment: the school maintains a 70 per cent employment rate across the board, with some courses boasting closer to 90 per cent. “This is not an art school; it’s a trade school,” says Turner. “Jobs are paramount. These industries might sound obsolete at a time when everything is increasingly digital but there’s still a need for them. We’re replenishing the talent pool.”

The NBSS’s practical ethos can be traced all the way back to its founding in 1881. Women’s rights and education reformer Pauline Agassiz Shaw set up the institution in order to train immigrants, who were arriving in Boston in their millions in the 19th century. While much has changed since then, the NBSS maintains its original emphasis on hand skills and its commitment to education and jobs.

Woodworking has always been a key focus of the school. Ask any wood-based craftsman in the US and they will almost certainly be familiar with the NBSS. So it is fitting that the furniture-making course is by far the most popular programme. Its headquarters is found on an upper level in a large, U-shaped room. 

Today some 20 students are working among the scent of woodchips. In the workshop, Ian Hallowell, who sought out the NBSS as a “college alternative”, is working on a small but highly detailed 18th-century shaving mirror. Another student, Haniel Wides, is at the back of the room, crafting a music stand. “There are things that I was so intimidated by when I first walked in here but now I don’t think much of it,” says Wides. “It feels almost indulgent to have this time to push your skills as far as they can go.”

Back in the lobby, as she sees us out, Turner laments the fact that we weren’t able to take in all of the school’s offerings – locksmithing, jewellery-making, violin-making, the US’s last piano-technology course – in one day. It’s a good reason for us to return. Thanks to this school, such crafts and trades have a more secure future. 

As Turner accompanies us through the gallery of handmade objects, her parting words are on the role that the NBSS plays in the fabric of Boston. “We sit in a city that has world-class higher education and a long, proud, blue-collar history,” she says. “We are a kind of bridge between those very powerful identities and we attract people from both of those worlds. It makes North Bennet very special. There’s an interplay here that I don’t know exists elsewhere.”

nbss.edu

Trading up: America’s skills revival
The US is desperately short of people who can confidently rock a toolbelt. The construction industry reports a shortfall of 300,000 skilled tradespeople, from carpenters to welders, and the scale of demand is triggering a renaissance of the trade school. Enrolment in vocational construction courses is up by almost 20 per cent across the country, according to a report last year by the National Student Clearinghouse. No trade-technical college has the brand recognition of a Harvard or a Yale but the calculation for many prospective students of a skills-based programme is simple: less debt, rising salaries and a surfeit of work, especially given that there are 40,000 national infrastructure projects in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, there has also been a resurgence of so-called craft schools – such as the NBSS – around the US, where students learn how to make things with their hands using time-honoured techniques handed down the generations. The Penland School of Craft in North Carolina, for instance, teaches how to shape wood, work metal and throw clay amid the grandeur of the Appalachian mountains. Penland was founded in the 1920s but, like many such schools around the US offering courses in artisan trades, it has seen a surge of applications in recent years as people seek a new skill that they might turn into a business.

There’s still a stigma attached to the idea of ditching a bachelor’s degree in order to take a different path. But students often report a sense of satisfaction and purpose that comes with learning by doing. It’s increasingly being integrated into forward-thinking architecture programmes around the US, with design-build schools, such as Rural Studio at Alabama’s Auburn University, leading the way. Such approaches teach students how to build a house, from the electrics to the foundations, as well as draw on. Many architecture firms now seek graduates who know their way around a construction site. For those students willing to roll up their sleeves, now is the time to do a roaring trade. 

Five dining establishments with the recipe for success

At their best, great restaurants nourish their neighbourhoods. As venture-capital-backed “concepts” flood the market – with their touchscreens, staff with scripted responses and value-engineered menus that cater to profits rather than to people’s tastes – our most cherished independents need our support. The way we eat might change but the qualities we seek in a restaurant remain the same: we want a pleasant environment where we will be looked after and can eat well. But isn’t there also something especially reassuring in the practised manner of a waiter keeping order as an evening heads off script? Or a maître d’ who remembers your name (and your dog’s), as well as your favourite bottle? Or a chef patron who can sense whether you are in the mood for a chat or want some privacy? 

Running a restaurant across decades and generations might not be the straightest path to wealth, fame or riches but the most enduring establishments offer their communities sustenance in more ways than one. These have the common ingredient of care, as well as the grit to resist fads and the temptation to constantly redecorate. Without them, our cities would lose something integral. 

So, is there a recipe for prolonged success? First, forget rotating menus and guest chefs. Second, read on for our celebration of the hospitality holdouts that have thrived by catering to needs that won’t change with the seasons.

The Crown Jewel
Kronenhalle
Zürich

Behind its unassuming façade, Kronenhalle offers a lesson in how food is only part of what makes a meal outstanding or a restaurant remarkable. And you can start learning the secret to its success for the price of a potato rösti and a crisp glass of chasselas. The Gaststube has stood the test of time by sticking to its core principles rather than attempting to offer something for everyone – there are no “concepts” or tasting menus here. That sense of continuity and the service of something bigger is summed up by the wall-mounted portrait of Hulda Zumsteg, who founded the restaurant in 1924: she attentively gazes down at the tables, wearing pearls and an elegant black gown. Her late son, Gustav, continued to serve her takes on French and Swiss classics, while bringing in impeccable art. Visitors can dine alongside the work of painters such as Chagall, Miró and Picasso (many of whom were guests) with their bratwurst or chateaubriand.

The restaurant’s current director, Dom­inique Nicolas Godat, and his team ensure the upkeep of seamless service that’s solicitous but never shy of reminding visitors of the house etiquette (no video calls, no screens, no athleisure, please). Its head chef, Peter Schärer, has been part of the kitchen staff for more than 30 years. This respect for tradition is crucial to Kronenhalle’s allure. Its guestbooks might brim with the names of illustrious patrons but this isn’t a place for grandstanding. Indeed, regulars tend to use the side entrance, rather than the main one. 

Date founded: 1924
Signature dish: Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (veal in white-wine sauce). Save space for mousse au chocolat with double cream.
Covers: 172.
Employees: 95, including 30 kitchen staff.
Maximum height permitted for dogs: 60cm (so that they can fit under the table).
Known for: Not changing things. Both the signature dishes and the placement of the art are stipulated in Gustav Zumsteg’s will.
How it has held out: Even a weekday lunch has an element of performance and the customer isn’t always right. Kronenhalle has its own rules and customs, and staff aren’t shy to gently remind guests of how to behave.

The mid-century master
Café Prückel
Vienna

Much has happened over the centuries since the emergence of the Viennese coffeehouse but it has proven to be a remarkably resilient institution. An inherent Gemütlichkeit (or cosiness) invites you to linger and, unlike in many modern cafés that can be quick to shoo you out, you can linger over a cup of coffee. The flipside? Service tends to be slow and the waiters studiedly condescending, if not outright curt, especially towards those who aren’t clued up on the rules of engagement. But that’s all part of the charm. 

With its vast windows, Café Prückel on the western edge of the city’s Ringstrasse excels in most departments. It opened in 1903 under a different name and in the bright, gaudy style of artist Hans Makart. In 1955 architect Oswald Haerdtl spruced up the interior to include cheerful pastel hues and spindly low-slung furniture, helping the café to stand out from its wood-panelled peers.

Thomas Hahn, one of the three new co-owners who took over in January following the 62-year tenure of Christl Sedlar, is intent on preserving what he first found at Café Prückel. “Tradition is very important here,” he says as elderly Viennese ladies descend on their Stammtisch (regular table) for a game of cards. “It is my third restaurant but my first with this kind of past.” The only real changes slated are to the kitchen equipment; the classic fare on offer, from the schnitzel and goulash to the cakes, will stay the same. Now, where’s the waiter with that coffee?”
prueckel.at

Date founded: 1903.
Signature dish: Pastries and cakes, including Kaiserschmarrn (shredded pancakes) with jam or whipped cream.
Employees: 40.
Known for: Its charming neon sign and the unusual brand of Viennese mid-century design within.
How it has held out: A willingness to go with what works rather than reshaping things to fit modern trends has kept Café Prückel from becoming mere tourist fodder. The interior is listed; Unesco also added Vienna’s coffeehouses to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2011.

The neighbourhood favourite
The Odeon
New York

“We were young and it was kind of a fluke,” Lynn Wagenknecht tells Monocle about the success of the cafeteria that she and Keith McNally took over in 1980. An arts graduate with no hospitality experience, Wagenknecht eventually bought out McNally and brought in two partners, Judi Wong and Steve Abram­owitz (the pair behind the West Village’s Café Cluny), who helped to make The Odeon the lively Tribeca institution that it is today. 

The restaurant is a constant in the ever-changing neighbourhood and takes all comers: thirsty locals, judges and lawyers from a nearby courthouse, celebrities who cosy up in the red banquettes for a martini and steak frites. For Wagenknecht, being here for the community matters. The doors remained open to shelter people and serve firemen during the September 11 attacks.

Changes to the interiors have been small: the cafeteria still has the original panelling and globe lights from 1932. “But our goal has always been to keep things relevant and appealing,” says Wagenknecht. In the wild party years of the 1980s, The Odeon would stay open until 04.00; it now closes at a more conservative 23.00. It still serves burgers and omelettes but it has also added to its menu more modish fare, from purple sticky rice to vegan options. Wagenknecht’s secret to running a classic? “Simple,” she says. “This has always been the kind of place where we would want to eat.”
theodeonrestaurant.com

Date founded: 1980 (originally opened as Towers Cafeteria in 1932).
Signature dish: Steak frites.
Covers: 120.
Employees: 136.
Known for: Being a reassuring, reliable presence in an ever-evolving corner of Lower Manhattan.
How it has held out: The owner is also the landlord and never succumbs to fleeting fads.

The always-open sandwich spot
Schønnemann
Copenhagen

“Members of our kids’ generation think of themselves as global,” says Juliette Rasmussen. “But it actually means that they value local specialities more.” She and her husband, Thomas, bought Schønnemann in 2015; the classic lunch restaurant in central Copenhagen was founded in 1877 and is celebrated for its open sandwiches, beer and schnapps. “My generation didn’t eat smørrebrød but today’s young people do.

Between the 1970s and the early 2000s, the cellar restaurant was often at the point of closure. She attributes its renaissance to the New Nordic Cuisine food movement spearheaded by René Redzepi’s restaurant Noma. “He started putting the focus on local food,” she says, while acknowledging the vast difference between the complex fare on Noma’s menu and Schønnemann’s simple, largely unchanging offering. “We Danes went back to our roots. Smørrebrød became trendy again.”

Trendy, perhaps, but part of this restaurant’s charm is that its decor is unaltered by fashion. Rasmussen is proud to employ “real waiters who have time for the guests” but the main attraction is the food: from classic marinated herring to signature dish Madame Schønnemann (calf’s tongue, chicken salad and mustard).

“We aim to have salt, sweet, bitter, umami and sour in every piece,” says Rasmussen. When it comes to smørrebrød, the eternal question is: how many to order? The answer on the Schønnemann website is, “Two is a good base and three should be enough – but with four, you’ll leave with a smile.” It’s advice that has made Danes happy for generations, even as the vaunted Noma announced that it would close at the end of 2024.
restaurantschonnemann.dk

Date founded: 1877.
Signature dish: Madame Schønnemann, which consists of calf’s tongue with chicken salad and mustard on rye, topped with cress.
Covers: 60 across three cellar rooms.
Known for: Smørrebrød and schnapps.
Types of schnapps on the menu: More than 140.
How it has held out: Sticking to its guns.

The city survivor
Sweetings
London

The City of London is a strange, old place where Roman temples sit beneath gleaming skyscrapers. Half a million people descend on the Square Mile every weekday but fewer than 10,000 call it home. As property prices soar across the capital and samey sandwich shops proliferate, it might be hard to fathom how Sweetings, an unassuming 65-cover seafood restaurant founded in 1889, has endured for so long while steadfastly resisting change. You can’t book a table in advance and it doesn’t serve tea or coffee. It’s only open on weekdays and only for lunch (11.30 to 15.00) – the same hours that it kept in the 19th century.

Nevertheless, regulars can’t get enough of this long-unrenovated restaurant, with its wooden wainscotting and nicotine-cream walls offset by linen place settings. Waistcoat-and-tie-clad staff members clip across the terrazzo floor between tables, serving specialities such as the house-cured gravadlax, oysters and Dover sole. When Monocle visits, we hear champagne corks popping and the clinking of pewter tankards carrying black velvets (champagne and Guinness), bound for a table of punters in pinstripes. There are private tables for intimate conversations, communal ones for larger gatherings and barstools from which to see and be seen by colleagues – or perhaps adversaries at rival banks. The restaurant’s current owner, Sue Knowler, took over from her father, Dick Barfoot, in 2019. Like Barfoot, Knowler has refrained from changing anything too radically, embracing Sweetings’ unique personality. Long may this understated approach continue.
sweetingsrestaurant.co.uk

Date founded: 1889.
Signature dish: Skate wing with a caper-and-black-butter sauce. Painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was apparently a fan.
Covers: 65 (41 at the bar).
Employees: 11.
Known for: Black velvet cocktails, native oysters and the Dover sole.
How it has held out: It has maintained a strict, almost obstinate adherence to a simple seafood menu and very short opening times. The interior is also an understated masterpiece – cracks, imperfections and all.

Want to spice things up?

Keep an eye out for more hospitality holdouts in forthcoming issues of Monocle. And if you’re still hungry for more, tune in to The Menu, Monocle Radio’s dedicated food programme, and subscribe to our weekend newsletters for food scoops delivered straight to your inbox.

Five top hospitality uniforms from our editors’ travels

Some shudder at the mere mention of the word “uniform”. Done badly (read: off the peg and on a budget) a staff fit-out can mean plasticky jackets and clumpy black shoes. But it needn’t be that way. A deftly cut dinner jacket, airy shirt that breathes in the midday sun or dramatic dress can add theatre and flair to proceedings. 

It’s these considered, well-designed outfits that inspired us to ponder the attire that sets the best tone and helps staff to stand that little bit straighter. We visit Carlyle & Co in Hong Kong, Potato Head Beach Club in Bali and the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, followed by pit-stops in Europe at The Largo in Porto and Château Voltaire in Paris – fine properties that commissioned a fitting welcome.

1.
Hot stuff
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok’s doormen sport silk trousers, a long-sleeved “raj pattern” shirt and silk wrap at the waist. Sometimes a green-and-gold helmet too. The cut and fabric are made for the heat.

2.
Something fruity
Indonesian company Potato Head’s Seminyak Beach Club uniforms are made from naturally dyed batik fabric from a factory in the village of Pejeng, outside Ubud. 

3.
Formal offer
Atelier Franck Durand helped Château Voltaire define its look, from a mid-length wrap dress for female receptionists to the bellboys’ double-breasted blazers.

4.
Fresh threads
“Uniforms are often poly blends for durability and ease of cleaning,” says Verena Fiori of The Largo hotel. “Ours are hemp and cotton for Porto’s humid summers.”

5.
Something refreshing
“It’s easy to wear and made locally,” says Potato Head co-founder Jason Gunawan.

6.
Table service
Carlyle & Co’s get-ups come courtesy of Hong Kong firm The Armoury and are made by tailor Ascot Chang.

7.
Best bar none
The gentlemen’s double-breasted blazers at Carlyle & Co come in burgundy and navy.

Here’s what’s tickled our taste buds this month

Trattoria del Ciumbia
Milan

Located on a narrow street in Brera, Trattoria del Ciumbia is old Milan and new Milan combined. Its red lacquer drop ceiling, white tablecloths and weighty crockery nod to the quarter’s bohemian osterie of the 1960s and 1970s – there’s even a hint of disco. But look again and you’ll see that this is also a thoroughly contemporary spot – and one bearing the signature of Milanese interior maestros Dimorestudio. The tiled floor is a modern interpretation, as are the low-backed chairs and neon lights near the entrance, made by the design team’s furnishing label, Dimoremilano.

The tight menu follows the same new-meets-old ethos. Executive chef Paolo Rollini dubs it “Lombard cuisine revisited”. You’ll find all the classics here – including cotoletta (thick breaded veal cutlet) and ossobuco (veal shanks) – but dishes are never overbearing. Instead, they’re somehow always delicate, the neat Russian salad being a case in point.

“The idea is that you rediscover typical products that you don’t find any more,” Rollini tells Monocle. Keep an eye out for the delicious risotto dish from Monza featuring luganega sausage, as well as a rice-and-vanilla pudding that has been turned into a slice of cake and is served with a dollop of saffron cream. Ready to party on? Grab a cocktail and head to the intimate dancing room downstairs, where DJs play most nights.
trattoriadelciumbia.com

Recipe
Flatbread with chorizo and broccoli

If you find the idea of making pizza dough daunting, try these flatbreads, which offer a simple alternative way to achieve the same signature crispy texture. May we suggest topping yours with chunks of chorizo and tenderstem broccoli?

Serves 2

Ingredients

250g jar of passata
2½ tbsps olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
¼ tsp chilli flakes
½ tsp anchovy paste
125g tenderstem broccoli
2 flatbreads
150g fresh mozzarella, torn
100g cooking chorizo, skin removed, crumbled into pieces

Method

1.
Preheat oven to 200C.

2.
Place 1½ tbsps of olive oil, garlic, chilli flakes and anchovy paste in a small pan. Cook over medium-low heat until garlic turns golden. Add passata and cook for another 15 minutes, allowing sauce to thicken a little.

3.
In a medium-sized pan, bring water to a boil and add salt. Cook broccoli for 1–2 minutes until it’s bright green but still has bite. Drain.

4.
Divide sauce between the flatbreads and spread up to 1cm from the edges. Arrange mozzarella, cooked broccoli and crumbled chorizo on top. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

5.
Bake flatbreads in the oven for 13–15 minutes until the sausage browns and the cheese melts. Serve warm.

The Caterpillar Club
Sydney

Since the end of Sydney’s infamous lockout laws, a small group of dedicated hospitality operators have fought to restore the town’s former reputation for excellence in late-night drinking, dining and all-around fun. Much of the hard work has been done by Swillhouse, the collective behind some of Sydney’s finest bars and restaurants.

The Caterpillar Club might just be Swillhouse’s most audacious accomplishment yet. This multifarious and adaptable subterranean space can on any given night feel like it’s Sydney’s absolute best bar, restaurant and dance floor – sometimes all at once. And thanks to its daily opening hours, late closure times (an unfortunate rarity in Sydney) and astonishing private record collection, this is also one of the most dependable good times you can have in the centre of town.
swillhouse.com

Bobe
Copenhagen

“We wanted to create a place where guests can come in the pursuit of the best in life: food, art, love,” says Bobe’s founder and chef, Bo Bech, whose menu blends Nordic fare with global flavours. “The space is meant to spark conversation,” he adds. Dishes of greens, fish and meat done well (not well-done) only add to the allure.

Copenhagen-based studio Atelier Axo supplied bespoke furnishings that contribute to the venue’s warmth and sense of intimacy, with integrated seating and wooden features.
restaurantbobe.com

Wasted Wine Club
London

The Wasted Wine Club began as a solution to a little-known issue: winemakers sometimes dump finished wine because it’s not worth bottling and selling it. Angelo van Dyk, a South African winemaker living in London, has been selling surplus wine under the Wasted label since 2021. Part of the brand’s charm is its playfulness, which comes via designer Andrew Wren and illustrator Ty Williams. The first two Wasted collaborations have come courtesy of South African producers Alex McFarlane and Angus Paul, respectively – the latter’s wines balance each other out, with a light, fruity pinotage and its syrah counterpart. The next, however, will stray further from Van Dyk’s roots, with the forthcoming 2024 release from Sonoma-based winemakers Jenny and Scott Schultz.
wastedwine.club

Parklet
Tokyo

Freshly baked goods are at the heart of Parklet, an all-day bakery and café nestled in Nihonbashi-Kobunacho, near the Horidome Children’s Park. Full-height windows overlook an adjacent play area, while families and friends gather around communal tables during the day, contributing to the lively atmosphere. Prepared in-house, the sourdough bread is a highlight, while the rosemary scones and pastries go well with the single-origin brews roasted by Overview Coffee. Looking for take-home treats? The pantry is lined with granola, condiments and seasonings, while merchandise draws on Parklet’s roster of lovably doughy characters. It’s fun (and buns) for all the family. Watch this space for evening events too.
parkletbakery.com

Schirmer/Mosel celebrates a new chapter

Schirmer/Mosel is run from a quiet ground-floor office near Munich’s Englischer Garten. It’s an old-school operation. There’s no computer on the desk of the owner and founder, Lothar Schirmer, and the team uses trays for in and outgoing correspondence. But this approach hasn’t stopped the art-book publisher from thriving over the past 50 years. To date it has published more than 1,800 titles, including definitive monographs of artists such as Joseph Beuys and photographer Helmut Newton.

Over those years the publisher has also dynamically shifted between styles and mediums. It ventured into literature, with the imprint SchirmerMosel Literatur; fashion, with a monograph on Yves Saint Laurent; and cinema, with books featuring stills from movie-makers Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Andrei Tarkovsky. And there’s more to come. Next year, Schirmer turns 80 but has no plans to step back from publishing. “This is not a profession that lets you retire,” he says, after briefly excusing himself from the interview to check his phone: a message from Isabella Rossellini.

The company’s journey began with a teenager’s fascination with art. Schirmer, who grew up in Köln, used to visits artists’ studios. Aged 19, he went to the third edition of Documenta, the quinquennial art exhibition held in the town of Kassel. It was there that he saw the work of Joseph Beuys and, despite his youth, became a friend of the esoteric conceptual artist. Keen to buy drawings by Beuys, the young Schirmer began working on a construction site to finance his purchases.

Schirmer stored his fledgling collection under the bed in his student flat and soon realised that he could turn his hobby into a career that would allow him to work directly with art and artists. “The easy way would have been to become an art dealer,” he says. “But I didn’t want to sacrifice my little collection.” Instead, he moved to Munich where he teamed up with Erik Mosel, an advertising copywriter, and in 1974 founded Schirmer/Mosel (the latter left the business a decade ago but retains a stake in the company).

Alongside Beuys, Schirmer was an avid early collector of US artists Walter de Maria and Cy Twombly. Working on books about them, it turned out, was the ideal way to gain access to their studios. “If I’m making a monograph, they show me everything, even the works they’ve rejected,” he says.

Schirmer didn’t just introduce the German public to the latest currents in abstract expressionist and minimalist art on an intellectual level. He also ensured that many of these works were physically present in Munich. In 2012 his collection of Beuys sculptures were moved into the new wing of the Lenbachhaus museum. 

Light reading
Essential Schirmer/Mosel tomes

Brassaï. Flaneur through Paris at Night
Hungarian photographer and sculptor Brassaï was fascinated by Paris’s nocturnal scene. These photos, taken during his nightly rambles in the 1930s, blend art and reportage.

Bibliotheken
An insightful essay by Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco accompanies this photographic survey of the world’s best-known and most beautiful libraries, from Europe to North America. 

Frauen Sehen Frauen
Is there such a thing as a “female gaze” in photography? Published in 2001, this anthology, which contains 159 photographs by 90 women, tries to answer the question.

Bernd & Hilla Becher: Typologien
The titular duo’s photography exists between conceptual art, typological study and topology. In this monograph, each chapter is dedicated to a different structure, water towers and coal breakers among them.

Kompass Beuys: Werke der Sammlung Ludwig Rinn
Art collector Ludwig Rinn acquired his first works by Joseph Beuys in 1966 and met the artist for the first time two years later. Their final encounter took place in 1985, just six months before the artist’s death. Published in 2022, Schirmer/Mosel’s recent book offers insights into Beuys’ life and artistry via a deep-dive into the drawings that make up Rinn’s extensive collection. A must for admirers of either.

People trek to the New Mexico desert to see land art pieces by De Maria but Schirmer has an installation in his apartment. He believes, however, that his most important contribution to the art world has been platforming the work of photographers. While it’s now common for book publishers to think of photography as an art, it was a genre that most German houses frowned upon as recently as 50 years ago.

To Schirmer, none of that mattered. In Schirmer/Mosel’s first years, he published Rheinlandschaften (“Rhine Landscapes”) by the late August Sander and Photographien Berlin 1890-1910 by Heinrich Zille. Crucially, the pioneering photographers’ books were presented in the same format as other artists, featuring a plain cover with a single image and, inside, a section of critical texts followed by the pictures. His gamble paid off; the books were commercial successes. While Schirmer’s first book on Beuys’ drawings sold 800 copies, the first Zille tome sold 50,000.

Even so, many in the art world balked at Schirmer’s decision to give institutional recognition to photography as an art form. “Beuys always said that every human activity has a piece of art in it but photography doesn’t,” says Schirmer, chuckling. Today the publishing house is recognised as an innovator but Schirmer’s intentions were always simpler: to embrace his sense of curiosity and play. “It was clear to me that I could only do this as long as I have fun,” he says, sitting at his desk heaped high with papers.

Yet while he continues to have fun, Schirmer also acknowledges that one day his working life must come to an end and the reins, of course, be passed on. Who should take over? His answer is simple: “It just needs a person who is passionate about pictures.”

Mobilier National, the French firm that has preserved some of the country’s most valuable possessions

Few would guess that a cluster of modest 17th‑century buildings in the French capital’s 13th arrondissement could be home to some of the country’s most precious furnishings: thrones that once belonged to Napoleon, a Marie Antoinette armchair taken from the Tuileries Palace and a carpet donated to Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1841, salvaged from the fire that ripped through the building in 2019. Their custodian, Mobilier National, is the diplomatic body that furnishes the Republic’s official residences – both at home and abroad – with art, tapestries and furniture, but it was once the monarchy’s personal makeover service. While much has changed since then, it still has a prestigious role to play – and plenty of regal possessions.

France’s government residences, including the Élysée Palace, Hôtel de Matignon and Palais-Royal – plus a number of ministries, government agencies and embassies – all continue to benefit from the services of Mobilier National, which became part of the Ministry of Culture in 1959.

Established by King Louis XIV in 1663 as a means of keeping the monarchy’s furniture and art in one place, Mobilier National has always been about both logistics and politics. The creation of this repository enabled the monarchy to keep track of its fabulous possessions and bolstered the work of Gallic craftsmen at a time when Dutch and Italian goods were threatening to eclipse France’s output.

The country’s modern-day leaders make use of the organisation too. “President Macron and his wife, for example, have distinctly contemporary taste, so they asked for furniture that reflected this after taking over from François Hollande,” says Emmanuel Pénicaut, Mobilier National’s director of collections. Luckily, the couple had a lot to choose from. “We have some very valuable pieces here, either because they were used by a significant historical figure or because they were made by a highly respected French designer.”

These pieces include chairs by master carpenter Georges Jacob, a bespoke suede-upholstered armchair created for former president Georges Pompidou, a Serge Manzon cabinet and tapestries by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Le Corbusier. “Every piece holds artistic significance as well as a piece of France’s history,” says Pénicaut. The repository contains more than 130,000 items, some dating back to the Middle Ages. It also houses three textile workshops – the Manufacture des Gobelins, Manufacture de Beauvais and Manufacture de la Savonnerie – where 100 technicians and 50 apprentices work to create new artefacts.

Mobilier National’s employees ensure that every item in the collection stays in the best condition possible. The foundation also comprises a dyeing workshop and seven restoration ateliers that specialise in cabinets, chandeliers, carpets, tapestries, bronze and gold furniture, lighting fixtures and objets d’art. While the French might be known for their deft statecraft, it appears that the country’s diplomats and politicians are clumsier on the domestic front: Mobilier National repairs about 1,500 pieces every year. “Just this morning we found a lamp in the Élysée Palace that wasn’t working, so we swapped it out to be reconditioned while Mr Macron is away,” says Pénicaut. “It’s important that the Palace is in immaculate condition, as the president welcomes diplomats there on a regular basis.”

With such an vast collection, organisation is essential. “Every piece is numbered so that we can easily locate it and it’s all organised in chronological order, according to the era in which it was made,” says Pénicaut. “Before we put something back into the stock, we check that it’s in good condition. If it isn’t, we restore it and inspect it regularly to check for signs of degradation. We always need to reassure ourselves that everything is still there and in optimal condition, because it could be needed at any time.”

As with many of Paris’s institutions, space is an ongoing issue. “A lot of the pieces aren’t in the stock at any one time because they’re in various different state outposts,” says Pénicaut. “But even so, we have to keep a precise inventory of our reserves because they fill up very quickly.” In recent years, Mobilier National has started acquiring new pieces at antiques markets, auctions and galleries, as well as creating its own designs. While they never sell their creations, they occasionally accept diplomatic commissions from other countries.

When Monocle visits the Manufacture des Gobelins, six artisans are absorbed in weaving a set of 16 tapestries for a medieval castle newly acquired by the state of Denmark. Their work has just started and the project will take five years to complete. “The Danish very much appreciate the art of tapestry making but there are no more tapestry manufacturers there, so they came to us instead,” says Pénicaut.

As far as domestic commissions go, eight weavers from the Manufacture des Gobelins and the Manufacture de Beauvais have been working on a three-part tapestry with French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi since 2021. Commissioned to celebrate the 2024 Olympic Games, the artwork features the Eiffel Tower, the Olympic flame and breakdancing, a sport that makes its debut at this summer’s Paris showcase. “People tend to think of tapestry weaving as an ancient craft but we want this project to show that the art of tapestry making is also a contemporary one,” says Pénicaut. Though it was founded more than five centuries ago, Mobilier National’s objective remains the same: to ensure that France’s heritage is never a thing of the past.
mobiliernational.culture.gouv.fr

Hirokazu Kore-eda on creating ‘Monster’

Japanese film-maker Hirokazu Kore‑eda, who was born in Tokyo in 1962, is internationally admired as a storyteller who mixes the tough and the tender. Titles such as Nobody Knows (2004), the Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters (2018) and Broker (2022) present compelling characters, often thrown together and acting as a family, who collaborate to rise above their strange, straitened lives with courage and charm. His latest film, Monster (2023), centres on two boys, Minato and Yori, and an accusation of school bullying and the ramifications it has on careers, family and friendships. Kore‑eda, who normally writes and directs, took this story from screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto. The score, meanwhile, comes courtesy of the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto and is a beautiful soundtrack for an entrancing drama about authority and the expectations of how boys should be boys.

RB: You normally write the scripts for your films but for Monster, Yuji Sakamoto wrote the screenplay. The film still feels very much part of your emotional and thematic world, though. How did it start?
HK: I’ve always been a fan of Yuji Sakamoto’s dramas. While he’s mainly worked in TV and myself in film, we’ve handled similar subject matter: families of the perpetrators of crime or the idea of neglect. We both felt a similarity and hoped that we would get to work together. So with this, Yuji Sakamoto and the producer, Genki Kawamura, had started developing the idea for the film and once they had the plot, Sakamoto-san gave it to me to read and I happily accepted.

RB: Your film is titled Monster and while we see carelessness and callousness on-screen, audiences might leave the cinema with an enduring impression of love and compassion. Do you see plenty of love and compassion in the world or do you make films as a barrier against their opposites?
HK: I’m not as optimistic as to suggest that there’s “plenty” but at the same time I’m not making these films because the world is so awful. There are things in the real world that are hidden: people, things and situations that we don’t get to see. I try to shed a light on them. Film can contribute to society and I want to make that contribution.

RB: Monster shows the same events told from multiple perspectives, which unfold as different stories. Is it a film about stories and storytelling? Telling us that we need to look at all viewpoints to reach the truth of the matter? 
HK: It’s impossible, isn’t it, for human beings to see things from all perspectives? So the film’s structure helps us to realise how uncertain, ambiguous and frightening the truth that we believe in can really be. And how frightening it can be when we decide that someone is a monster.

RB: One way of arriving at that truth is through the performances. You’re known for getting such naturalistic work from your cast, even while casting children who might be less easy to direct. How do you achieve that?
HK: Usually, we don’t have to do any preparation with the child actors – I feed them their lines on-set and explain what’s going on. But I couldn’t really do that here as there’s too much conflict in the characters of Minato and Yori. So I worked with them to create their characters. We had talks from a group that supports LGBT children, we had a school nurse come to teach them about how the body develops at that age and I really wanted them to understand the script. At the same time, the boys were playing together, eating together, making friends with each other. They also grew up as they grew as actors on set.

RB: Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote the music and it’s a beautiful, minimal score. How did you work with him, on what would sadly be his final film soundtrack?
HK: Well, he wasn’t well when I approached him and, as he couldn’t really speak, we wrote to each other. At first, when I still didn’t know whether he was going to accept the project or not, I set the film to his music. I made a cut with a soundtrack made up of tracks from his previous albums. I know that some composers wouldn’t have appreciated that but I sent that to him. I was relieved when he said that the film was interesting and that, as he watched it, he had already come up with ideas and would write some music – if I liked it, I should use it, if I didn’t, not to worry. All this he was writing to me. The collaboration I had been dreaming of for many years had come true.

RB: There appears to be a critique of forms of rigidity, silence and restraint in the film. These are qualities, or problems, that some associate with old-fashioned Japanese hierarchies. Has the film been critiqued in a similar way by Western and Japanese media?
HK: I’ve read reviews and reactions from several countries and they’re surprisingly similar. There hasn’t been this sense of, “Oh, it’s quite Japanese so it’s hard to understand.” I thought that the story of this closed society of the school and the way that good and evil are almost reversed in that situation might be something that struck Western audiences as implausible. But that hasn’t happened, to my relief. But then there’s the ending. Both in Japan and overseas – and even when I first screened it at Cannes Film Festival – a surprising number of people asked me, “Are they dead or alive?” They wanted to be able to set their minds at rest. I wasn’t expecting that.

The season’s cultural highlights, from thrilling page-turners to the reissue of an electro classic

Books

Wandering Stars
Tommy Orange
Tommy Orange made a splash in 2018 with his debut novel, There There, which followed Native American characters in Oakland, California, the author’s hometown. Expectations are high, then, for Wandering Stars, which serves as both a prequel and a sequel. The book centres on multiple generations of a family and the fallout of the 1864 Sand Creek massacre, in which more than 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people were killed by the US Army. 
‘Wandering Stars’ is out now

Headshot
Rita Bullwinkel
The appeal of a novel about teenage girl boxers risks being limited to those in and around the ring. But Headshot punches above its weight. Rita Bullwinkel’s second book – following her collection of short stories, Belly Up – centres on eight young women competing in a tournament in Reno, Nevada. It’s a taut tale of intimacy, violence, control, joy and desire. 
‘Headshot’ is out now

The Morningside
Téa Obreht
The third novel from the Belgrade-born US author of The Tiger’s Wife and Inland began as a short story in The Decameron Project, an anthology commissioned in 2020 by The New York Times Magazine. It unfolds in a not-too-distant future in a place called Island City and follows 11-year-old Silvia, who together with her mother is forced to leave their home and move into a high-rise managed by her aunt. There, Silvia begins to unearth a few troubling family secrets. 
‘The Morningside’ is out now

Film

Drift
Anthony Chen 
Stories of refugees tend to tread a familiar path. Director Anthony Chen quietly circumvents clichés with Drift, which follows the well-to-do daughter of an upper-class Liberian family forced to flee to Greece after conflict catches up with them. The film rests on the pathos of Cynthia Erivo’s performance – she is an actress who can make anything look enthralling. 
‘Drift’ is released on 24 March 

Love Lies Bleeding
Rose Glass
Gym manager Lou (Kirsten Stewart) falls hard and fast for bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian) – and their love affair may be their only respite from the drama of her small-town gangster family. Dripping in 1980s dirtbag Americana aesthetics, the film is a pounding and aggressive melodrama from the director of horror film Saint Maud.
‘Love Lies Bleeding’ is released on 19 April 

Close Your Eyes
Víctor Erice
Spanish film-maker Víctor Erice has never made a bad movie. Now, after a long absence, he has returned with what’s, on the surface, a mystery film about the disappearance of an actor. Look deeper, though, and you’ll find an exploration of memory, identity and their intersection with cinema. 
‘Close Your Eyes’ is released on 12 April

Art

Willem de Kooning e l’Italia 
Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia, Venice
Dutch-American expressionist painter Willem de Kooning bookended the 1960s with two trips to Italy. On the first, he met Cy Twombly and experimented with his expressive “Rome” drawings; the second saw him attempt sculpture for the first time. The effect of these brief visits permeated throughout his late career, as this ambitious retrospective illustrates in suitably broad brushstrokes. 
From 17 April to 15 September

Theaster Gates: Afro-Mingei
Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
As a committed Japanophile, artist Theaster Gates has brewed his own saké, explored the mingei movement and engaged with Tokoname ceramic traditions across two decades. While the work created for the Chicago-born polymath’s first major exhibition in Japan will reflect a deep love for his host country, don’t expect his art to be watered-down. Gates has always responded to such occasions, using his platform to present explorations of Black American identity. 
From 24 April to 1 September

Fix: Care and Repair
Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Design Museum, Helsinki
This show celebrates the fine art of maintenance, from the careful restoration of buildings to the beauty of the time-worn. Five early-career artists, chosen via an open call, were tasked with expanding the central theme to encompass poetry, architectural theory, social inclusion and more. Their collected works will act as a reminder that maintenance is about more than just quick fixes; it’s about nurturing the good things in life. 
From 26 April to 31 December

Music

Moon Safari
Air 
The French electronic duo’s 1998 debut album still feels fresh today, from the serene “La femme d’argent” to the vocoder paradise of “Sexy Boy”. Belatedly celebrating 25 years since its release, Air have reissued Moon Safari with added live sessions, unreleased demos and a documentary film. 
The ‘Moon Safari’ 25th anniversary edition is out now 

Las Mujeres ya no Lloran
Shakira
The Colombian pop diva is back with her first album since 2017’s El Dorado. Its name references her recent hit single “Music Sessions, Vol 53”, a collaboration with Argentinian producer Bzrp, on which she sings “women no longer cry, women make money”. The record’s catchy hooks and pithy lyrics prove Shakira is still a force in pop. 
‘Las Mujeres ya no Lloran’ is released on 22 March

A La Sala
Khruangbin
The Houston trio’s fourth album is more subdued than previous releases. Highlights include “Pon Pón”, a mixture of African disco and distorted guitars, and the sensual “Todavía Viva”. 
‘A La Sala’ is released on 5 April

TV

Ripley
Netflix 
Andrew Scott plays the titular character in this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley. Its eight episodes follow Ripley’s journey from the US to Italy, where he is embroiled in fraud, murder and deceit. 
‘Ripley’ is released on 4 April

Sugar
Apple TV+
Colin Farrell is busy. Alongside Batman spin-off The Penguin, this year also sees him starring in and producing Sugar, a subversive series about a private detective investigating the disappearance of a Hollywood producer’s granddaughter.
‘Sugar’ is released on 5 April

The Veil
Hulu 
Equal parts captivating spy thriller and Thelma & Louise, this fascinating look into the global espionage community follows two women on the road from Istanbul to London via Paris. 
‘The Veil’ is released on 30 April

Plots of adrenaline
Thrillers to read
Global

Great thrillers have you rooting for characters up against the odds and keep you hopeful even when things seem to be taking a turn for the worse. The best of the new crop, listed here and chosen by crime-fiction aficionado Paul Burke, share these qualities.

1.
The Shadow Network
Tony Kent
UN super-agent Joe Dempsey and London lawyer Michael Devlin are on the trail of The Monk, leader of a cabal dedicated to wrecking the world order. Fighting this global threat is a war on many fronts, from the US to the Middle East – and the pace never lets up. 
Published by Elliott & Thompson

2.
The New Couple in 5B
Lisa Unger
New Yorkers Rosie and Chad Lowan inherit an apartment in the iconic Windermere building. The residents are welcoming, the portents less so. Rosie witnesses a biker die in a crash just as the good news arrives, The Windermere’s aged doorman is ever present and its gruesome history emerges when a neighbour is found dead. It’s an unsettling, haunting read.
Published by Park Row

3.
Smoke Kings 
Jahmal Mayfield
A racist murder leads Nate Evers to exact revenge for his cousin’s death in Jahmal Mayfield’s powerful debut. When Evers and friends kidnap the descendants of hate-crime perpetrators and demand reparations, it’s not long before white supremacists and a racist cop are on their trail. This is an excoriating account of open wounds in US race relations. 
Published by Melville House

4.
A Spy Like Me
Kim Sherwood
This Bond-not-Bond franchise sequel features Double-O agents scouring for terrorists while searching for missing service legend James Bond. Fast, sassy fun, this is Fleming for the 21st century.
Published by Hemlock Press

5.
On the Run
Max Luther
In Max Luther’s latest, Alex Drayce, disillusioned ex-cop turned bodyguard for hire, searches for a businessman’s missing daughter in Las Vegas. Framed for murder, hunted by the law and the mob, Drayce fights back. Underestimate him at your peril – the self-aware Reacher type has a similar deadly skillset.
Published by Canelo

Paul Burke hosts ‘Crime Time FM’.

Whatever happened to the art of hospitality?

Global education rates have never been higher but there’s a skills gap that’s getting wider. Certain softer skills – the ability to read a room, put others at ease, offer a drink or diffuse a difficult situation – are vanishing from our collective repertoire, whether in a presidential palace, boardroom or shop.

This is, in part, an issue of practice and it’s no surprise that we’re a little rusty. In the private sector, entertaining, training and travel budgets are being slashed to cut costs and preserve profits. At a state level, insular nations are selling off embassies and cutting back on diplomatic staff in a bid to tighten their purse strings. 

Technology, ostensibly a tool for greater efficiency, has compounded the problem. In the rush to automate and appear innovative – and rely on the internet for all our interactions – have we lost a little of the human touch? Artificial intelligence can analyse data but can it put people at ease? Instant messaging can transmit information but what message might a crisp, handwritten invitation or taking someone out to lunch send?

1.
Off-grid solutions
Make room for private moments 

To solve thorny problems, we need radical candour. The right setting can promote this – think Camp David, with its off-the-record conversations and spitting fire, where negotiators can get to know each other and build a rapport. Leaders need space to chew over hard-to-navigate issues and find solutions away from the flashbulbs.

So let’s be mindful of efficiency for its own sake. One might easily ask, “Who needs an office when you can join a call from your kitchen table? Who needs a deal-sealing dinner with clients when you can send the contracts over by email? Who needs a newspaper when you can scan the headlines on social media? Who needs an ambassador when you could run a killer social-media campaign?” 

It’s a slippery slope and every substitution can diminish national brands and small businesses alike; it’s disappointment by a thousand cuts. The solution? We need to get out more.

Great leaders – of countries, cities or companies – already know the inherent value that honed hospitality skills can add to their work. They know that presentation and how they treat people have knock-on effects and that the architecture of their office, where they decide to manufacture their product and how they treat guests can tell a story about who they are and what they stand for. 

So read on for 50 lessons in hospitality that we have gleaned on the road and across our reporting. We offer tips on how we can all be a little more attentive, whether we are chairing a global debate or just throwing a decent dinner party. Let’s enrol you in Monocle’s hospitality school. It’s time to narrow that skills gap.

2.
Words to the wise
Master another language

A president (or any leader) with a confident command of another language sends a bigger, more outward-looking message to the world about the nation or organisation that they represent. In politics, having someone at the fore who can switch codes, acknowledge and appreciate difference, and still be patriotic is a helpful bulwark against nativism. Polyglots can win points for a flawless address but can also tune in to mutterings from the other side, should things get fractious.

3.
News and views
Stay informed

What you read matters. Clickbait is a little like junk food: consume too much of it too often and the effects will start to show. A good media diet will give you perspective and remind you that others know more than you about a lot of things. Lively journalism can inspire, inform and entertain. And it needn’t be just hard news. France does breezy morning radio better than most, while picking up a newspaper such as Les Echos will whisk you into fresh conversations beyond what you’ll find in the Anglophone news cycle.

4.
Friendly disposition
Be diplomatic

Investing in outreach is important if you want to succeed on the world stage. Finland’s diplomatic saunas spring to mind: many of the country’s embassies and consulates abroad come with a wood-panelled space in which to slough off formalities and forge human connections. While some countries are flogging embassies and cutting staff, the smarter ones realise that friendships would soon evaporate without them.

5.
Conversation starter
Don’t be dull

Spin a decent yarn and say something interesting. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a comedian to crack a joke or a novelist to tell a story. “How are you?” isn’t an invitation to recount everything that has happened to you today in detail. Be selective and find a thread; be enthusiastic about something and tell people what you think. You’ll get much more back from engaged interlocutors.

6.
Right on target
Be direct

It’s not always cheeky to ask for what you want. Most people will be happy to meet you in the middle if you request something graciously and in good faith. Whether you’re trying to negotiate a deal, secure a job or a commission, or just get a little information, it’s often best to ask. That doesn’t mean butting in or being brassy – far from it. It’s all about being certain of what you’re after and getting to the point.

7.
Go offline
Meet in person

Pleased to e-meet you? Really? Online communication can be useful for getting things done and exchanging information but peeling yourself away from the screen and meeting people matters much, much more. So prioritise forging some proper connections. Some conversations lose their nuance when they’re typed up and require a phone call, while others simply deserve to happen in person.

8.
Building a brand
Get the look

Establishing a clear identity is crucial, whether you’re a state or a business. On a national level, we’re fans of how Japan and Switzerland present themselves (in everything from flags to flag carriers) but the city of Porto is also setting a benchmark. Designer Eduardo Aires’s azulejo-inspired illustration and marque are being rolled out across Portugal’s second city, offering a coherent sense of place. In terms of companies, look to the understated service at Chanel’s shops, whether in Beijing or Bal Harbour, Florida.

9.
Medium is the message
Give it meaning

Doesn’t a crisp invitation or a thoughtfully jotted “thank you” message – with flowers or that book you mentioned over lunch – mean so much more than a text or email? Isn’t that the way to make people feel welcomed and acknowledged? The message itself is important but so is what the embossing, foiling and finishes convey. This is true whether you’re hosting a corporate event or an intimate gathering. This is what making an effort and a fuss over people looks like. Welcome to the fold.

10.
People power
Read the room

Here’s a subtler lesson that’s glaringly absent from the world’s common-sense curricula: be observant and assertive. Cultivate an ability to spot when tempers need cooling in a discussion or pulses set racing in a lagging pitch. Then there’s having the wherewithal to intervene: to intercept a drink that’s bound for someone who doesn’t need it or to rescue a person who is trapped in a boring conversation. The best hosts can see when service slips, a staffer isn’t at their best or when a quiet word is needed.

11.
Host with the most
Lay on a party

Embassy bashes can open the doors to a nation’s best bits and drop subtle clues about the diplomats’ wider mission (to entertain as well as persuade, to win friends as well as advance interests). An ambassador who can host a spot-on lunch and knows the power of their national dish, deftly placed design and liberally poured drinks is an invaluable resource. A smart residence helps too. Decisions must be made at a national level to invest in embassies with pull and outreach that resonates. Global influence starts here.

12.
Heat of the moment
Take the temperature

Keep an eye on the thermometer: don’t wait until people start keeling over with heatstroke or succumb to frostbite. Ensure that there’s an outside space where people can cool off or smoke too. Have a few nice bottles of white and something bubbly in the fridge for special occasions (or ordinary events that need livening up). Red wine is perfect for a sit-down dinner but beware of passing out glasses of it over nice carpets.

13.
In you come
Start at the door

Whether you’re running a restaurant or hosting an office bash for clients, a smooth front-of-house operation starts at the door. A smiling face and an an assured knowledge of who’s coming (as well as how to address them and pronounce their names) are good places to start. Taking coats and bags, transferring dripping umbrellas to holders and directing bubbly drinks to expectant hands should all happen smoothly.

14.
Mix it up
Have other interests

If your work involves regular meetings and events, there’s a good chance that you’ll have industry fatigue after the umpteenth conversation in an airless trade-show hall. So why not show that there’s more to you than your job title? Why can’t you be both a furniture-brand founder and an avid wine enthusiast? Or an ambassador and an amateur fly fisherman? Or, perhaps, a CEO-cum-female kickboxing champion?

15.
Learn for the best
Get back to school

Every nation should have a hospitality school and some good reasons to enrol (such as fair pay and jobs at the end). Think of the soft-power coup of Switzerland’s world-renowned schools that turn out polite, multilingual students who take the precision that their country is known for to hotels in cities from Sydney to San Francisco. The ability to set a table or spot when someone’s glass is dry is a life skill.

16.
Meet and greet
Learn people’s names

Sounds simple, right? Then why don’t more people have the knack? It’s a great courtesy to introduce a new acquaintance to someone with their name and a relevant, polished précis. It also signals that you have made the effort to listen to what they have to say. Avoid those toe-curling conversations in which one person reaches fruitlessly to retrieve a lost name. Be assertive and introduce yourself. Oh, and the golden rule: never guess (Julia, Jessica, Janet?). When it doubt, it’s best just to ask.

17.
Food for the soul
Break bread together

Many companies have closed their staff canteens in the dull pursuit of efficiency but, however you slice it, eating al desko is extremely crummy. Why not invest in a decent dining room and acknowledge that companies (and countries) need a budget to wine and dine clients and visitors? Great food and something refreshing to drink, as well as a change of scenery, can work wonders in ending a stalemate.

18.
Personal touch
Master the fundamentals

Another easy to deploy but often overlooked win is to reacquaint yourself and your staff with some time-honoured meeting tips. Smile, make eye contact and have a firm handshake (in some parts of the world, this will vary). Then ask some standard questions. Is there anything that you need? Are you thirsty? It’s incredible how many organisations leave visitors waiting, dry-mouthed, in airless meeting rooms.

19.
Take note
Put pen to paper 

Some masterful waiters can commit 20 orders to memory (all three courses and drinks too) but if you know that you’re not possessed of such mnemonic powers, then just take notes. Don’t be afraid to scribble down some pointers in a handsome, linen-bound notebook by the likes of the Geesthacht-based Leuchtturm1917. It’s good to commit fleeting thoughts to paper and carrying a notebook also signals that you’re ready to listen.

20.
Ready, steady, go…
Make the first move

Set up a club, a company, a campaign – whatever you want. That’s how things get done. Having some skin in the game shows that you’re serious about what you do and that you’re not all talk. It’s also a quick way to convene people who agree with you and help them feel a part of something bigger. Being a leader is about rallying people around your idea and creating your own community.

21.
Keep the peace
Hold something back

Knowing more than you let on – and being a little mysterious now and then – can be advantageous in hospitality as in life. You might know something juicy or have the inside track on a situation but it never hurts to have a poker pace. The softly-softly approach to getting your way can help everyone else save face and allow you to get your way. Nobody likes a scene.

22.
Lead by example
Hit the shop floor

A healthy sense of responsibility that cuts across all parts of a business can be useful. It’s always heartening to see an owner on the restaurant floor or a CEO overseeing the finer points of an event. An understanding of people’s roles and how it all works is invaluable. Training sometimes involves telling people how to do things but there’s no substitute for showing people how it’s done.

23.
Be mindful of others
Adjust your volume

Turn it up if you’re in boisterous crowd and down if you’re sharing sensitive information. If you’re taking a call, retreat to somewhere suitable, such as between train carriages, outside or a meeting room. Phones, tablets and laptops, even when used with headphones, should be inaudible to those around you. Whether you’re a train conductor, head waiter or CEO, it’s up to you to institute such common decencies.

24.
Go with the flow
Prepare for the unexpected

Rules are a starting point but we also all need to be alive to opportunity, willing to change plans and embrace the delightful dynamism of an evening, event, supper or summit that goes off-script. As the host, it’s your responsibility to set the tone and alter arrangements if the energy sinks or intervene when itineraries shift and new situations unfold. Your guests will thank you for it.

25.
Smell of success
Sniff it out

It’s easy to forget how persuasive a good odour can be. A fresh, woody incense stick by Kyoto-based Shoyeido or scented paper from Montrouge-based Papier d’Arménie can dissipate a musty smell, while some rules (no fish in the company canteen, please) can keep the office smelling fresh. Parisian firm Sézane gets things just right; its parcels arrive spritzed with (rather than soused in) a subtle lemony scent.

26.
Nurture and nature
Clean up

Great hosts understand that good service isn’t a matter of ticking boxes and that there are countless ways to show it. What about leaving a bench outside your business for people to perch on for a natter? Or gardening a little beyond your own patch to spruce up your neighbourhood? And getting a handle on that graffiti? How about supporting local charities or giving a little time to worthwhile causes? It could be as simple as helping to keep your street litter-free and the shutters painted, or putting a few charming pot plants outside.

27.
Take a back seat
Be driven

A chauffeur who knows the city’s back streets and history, can answer questions and advise on a table is an invaluable resource when you’re in town for business, especially if they have an alternative route to the airport. Having a driver (and perhaps a small entourage) also sets a certain tone. Meanwhile, visitors often get their first taste of a new city from their taxi ride from the airport. Wouldn’t a few words of another language, some help with luggage, a smooth ride and a clean car send a better signal?

28.
Dial it down
Get the light right

LEDs might be energy efficient but they’re far from a fix for the scourge of bad lighting. Overlighting a space is the fastest way to make everyone in it feel uncomfortable and look bad. Opt instead for dim, flattering, low-wattage alternatives and lamps with shades – perhaps a Hase TL reading light from Kalmar Werkstätten or a floor lamp by Paavo Tynell. The mood should evoke intimacy, not an interrogation.

29.
Dine and wine
Set the table for success…

Start with some reassuringly weighty flatware, such as the Kay Bojesen Grand Prix collection, anything from Portuguese firm Cutipol or Japanese brand Sunao. Opt for linen napkins, elegant white plates from Astier de Villatte or something functional from Norwegian firm Figgjo. Add a Reiko Kaneko vase with fresh blooms as the centrepiece and brassy Skultuna candle holders to cast a warm glow. 

30.
Friends with benefits
…and seat people well

Thoughtful place setting can work wonders. It shows that you have considered who might enjoy an evening next to who. Will that writer enjoy a conversation with your editor friend and might saucy Sally hit it off with randy Ralph? Let’s see. If things head south, you can always readjust with a quick seating change. Otherwise, sit back and survey the people who you have brought together.

31.
Curiosity pays off
Ask questions

Try to find out about others. We have all been monopolised by a new acquaintance who tells us everything we didn’t need to know about their new car or troubles with their mother-in-law in painstaking detail. Spare us. We need a little more journalistic rigour in our lives and to ask more questions – proper ones that make people think. Speaking of which, if you meet someone who doesn’t return the favour after you’ve asked them three questions, they probably aren’t very pleasant anyway.

32.
Nobody does it better
Hire Italian waiters

Really. Or at least take some lessons in how service is done in Italy. It always comes with a smile, genuine affection and a sense of flair in the delivery. Italian waiters won’t hide a wince when you add parmesan to seafood, pour ketchup on your calzone or order a cappuccino after noon – and that’s fine too. Being hospitable needn’t mean giving everyone everything. It can be about politely reminding people of the rules.

33.
Hands free
Hang up

Don’t look at your phone when you’re in company. It’s rude and it probably doesn’t hold the answers that you’re yearning for. Be in the moment. There are few things more dull than the sight of people staring at a member of their group who can’t find something in their files. Put it away, on silent. Even having the thing face-down on a table is a reminder of tedious to-do lists, messages to respond to and people to call.

34.
Tune in
Listen and learn

Productivity culture has made us feel as though every moment must be seized – but don’t forget to breathe now and again. The object of conversation shouldn’t be to get to the end as quickly as possible, so give people some time. Connection often comes from dropping your guard and going off-script. Seizing on an interesting or unexpected nugget of information can take you down exciting and unexpected avenues.

35.
Shake things up
Make a cocktail

Personally mixing up a treat for your guests will make an impression. If you’re entertaining people at home, have the kit and ingredients that you need on hand to dash out a French 75 or a tart gimlet while conducting a conversation. Stay a cocktail or two behind your guests to maintain the veneer of control (and in case any final food prep needs administering).

36.
First things first
Get off to a good start

First impressions count. If you’re a business, you’ll make it with the foyer, the fresh flowers on your reception desk and the smile behind it. If you’re running a restaurant, it’ll be with the gleaming windows, tended planters and hand-painted signs. For an airport, it’s the smiling immigration staff (the UAE and New Zealand do this well). Getting off on the right foot makes everything that comes after that little bit easier.

37.
In praise of analogue
Use your common sense

How many times have you spotted the terror on the face of a teller or young waiter when the internet flickers and a payment system or booking platform crashes? Technology sometimes makes mountains out of molehills and a little common sense can help. Understand the end goal. The app’s down? Apologise, jot down the reservation in a ledger, show these nice people to their table and be done with it.

38.
Warm welcome
Think of others

A bowl of water for the pooch? A place for older visitors to sit and wait? Something to keep the children entertained (not a noisy tablet, mind)? Being a little circumspect about who is passing through your doors and offering something for them shows care and attention to detail. And don’t forget: considering canine comfort can be an excellent way to display your humanity. Hospitality for all, please. Now there’s a good boy.

39.
Get out and about
Travel more

Experiencing new places in person will broaden your horizons and remind you that the world is a big and beautiful place that can introduce you to fresh opportunities and better benchmarks. Whether you’re a diplomat or a business leader seeking to test the market in a new city, there’s no substitute for breathing the fresh air of an unfamiliar land. And if it just happens to be Kyoto in the spring, then so be it.

40.
Keep others in mind
Get to the point

Be realistic about meeting times. Yes, of course I’d be delighted to meet you for a coffee. No, we won’t need three hours. Being presumptuous with other people’s time is a surefire way to annoy them. If you’re pitching, keep things short and to the point (if they like you, you’ll probably be asked to stick around and explain things anyway). And know your audience. How likely is it that the CEO, editor in chief or minister in front of you has half a day to hear you out? A little consideration saves everyone time.

41.
Back to basics
Show some respect

Hospitality doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere. What happened to the idea of forging a career in hospitality, as many unflappable oldsters still do in southern Europe, rather than treating service as something for low-paid students or unskilled labour? We need to respect the industry more and offer fair remuneration and career progression. We also need to see that automation isn’t always best.

42.
Make the cut
Suit yourself

As the era of athleisure slouches towards the horizon, it’s time to think a little more smartly about presentation. Making an effort in your appearance shows respect for the people who you meet and drops some subtle cues about your attention to detail. A leather-soled brogue from Heschung, Ludwig Reiter or Alden will help you stand taller and a little deft tailoring will improve both your posture and outlook. 

43.
Remember your manners
Come bearing gifts

If you’re invited somewhere, arrive with a gift: a good bottle of wine, a tasteful bouquet, the best loaf of bread in town or something thoughtful for your host. Politely present it, then let it go. If someone’s rustling up a dinner, it’s possible that they have a drinks pairing in mind and they don’t need your rundown on the subtleties of cave-made Georgian wine or the artisanal vinegar or mead you’ve sourced. Pop a cork in it.

44.
Keep and eye on the clock
Punctuality matters

Good timekeeping shows respect for the person you’re meeting. An occasional delay is sometimes inevitable but reputation matters. As Mark Twain once said, if you get a reputation as an early riser you can sleep until noon. That holds true in the wider world: get to work, meetings and engagements on time and people will quickly forgive you for inadvertently keeping them waiting once in a blue moon. The only exception? If you’re arriving for dinner at a friend’s house, it’s fine to be 15 minutes late.

45.
In good taste
Craft matters

The things with which we surround ourselves influence how we feel and reveal something of our outlook. Can a company claim to be responsible if it makes its wares cheaply in far-off factories? Doesn’t a European hotel hit a bum note when it claims to support local craftspeople but sources its crockery from China? Buying and backing local talent tells a story about where your priorities lie.

46.
Making friends
Be a good neighbour

Here is another easy win. If you’re running a bakery, make sure that the people nextdoor are well catered for with fresh buns and crusty loaves. Offer a discount to your loyal supporters and do your best to keep your community happy. Wonderful things can happen when you forge a community.

47.
Home sweet home
Put people at ease

If you’re hosting people overnight, you’ll need to kit out a spare room. Don’t worry, we have you covered. Plump for some soft pillows from Frette on a Schramm mattress and pressed sheets by Danish fabric firm Tekla, topped with an Eleanor Pritchard throw. Provide fresh soap and shampoo too (not half-finished ones pinched from a hotel), as well as a fluffy Imabari towel and a pair of cotton-linen room shoes by Kontex.

48.
Good design
Make your spaces work

Architecture sets a mood. What feels more miserly than a space where the windows won’t open? Whether it’s a residence or a workplace, the ingredients of a good building never change: plenty of light, natural materials and finishes, and a little texture always work. The Danish embassy in London, the Norwegian outpost in Stockholm and the Brazilian embassy in Rome are just some of the fine examples of spaces where generous proportions strike the right balance between grandeur and intimacy.

49.
Keep the party going
Stay the course

It’s a common misconception, especially in certain parts of the Gulf, that service should be servile. Not a bit of it. A great host is your equal, there to guide you with authority and charm. And if the evening’s heading for an after-dinner dance or karaoke bar, the host should lead the way and set the tone (and perhaps step up to sing the first tune).

50.
Trust in others
Keep an open mind

Making a concession to another point of view can move mountains and create goodwill. Whether it’s quibbling over an invoice or hammering out a complex deal, negotiations take trust. It’s also important not to jump to conclusions and then dig in. Give those who you disagree with the benefit of the doubt. Thinking the best of people is a life skill and you’ll meet more good ones than bad ones in the end – trust us.