George (club)

File:31 Mount Street, Mayfair, January 2022.jpg

George is located at 87-88 Mount Street in London's Mayfair district.{{cite book |last=Goldman |first=Lawrence |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-967154-0 |oclc=257555548 |page=104}} George was established by Mark Birley in 2001. The club is named for George Hobart, who was the head barman of Annabel's.{{cite news |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2001/08/mark-birley-london |title=Mark Birley's Growing London Empire |author=Kate Reardon |date=12 August 2001 |work=Vanity Fair |accessdate=29 January 2022}} Birley said that the name of the club was "just plain George, not George's or George's Bar". Birley described the ideal prospective member of George as "a reasonably well-heeled 35 to 40-year-old, who preferably takes out very pretty girls".

He had previously opened the members clubs Annabel's in 1963 and Harry's Bar in 1979.{{cite news |title=Obituary: Mark Birley |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0503693316/TTDA?u=wes_ttda&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=ade61dd3 |accessdate=19 January 2022 |work=The Times |issue=69101 |date=27 August 2007 |page=43}} In 2007 Birley sold his four Mayfair clubs, including George, to Richard Caring for £90 million.{{cite news |url=https://spearswms.com/bath-racquets-club-mayfairs-hidden-gem/ |title=Inside the Bath & Racquets club: How to climb the world's most exclusive squash ladder |author=Arun Kakar |date=30 August 2019 |work=Spear's Wealth Management Survey |accessdate=19 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418184458/https://spearswms.com/bath-racquets-club-mayfairs-hidden-gem/ |archive-date=18 April 2021 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=Old enemies Richard Caring and Robin Birley square up in glitzy battle of London's clubs |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/old-enemies-richard-caring-and-robin-birley-square-up-in-glitzy-battle-of-london-s-clubs-a3367426.html |author1=Jim Armitage |author2=Clare Hutchinson |accessdate=19 January 2022 |work=Evening Standard |issue=63383 |date=2 May 1989 |page=21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412141529/https://www.standard.co.uk/business/old-enemies-richard-caring-and-robin-birley-square-up-in-glitzy-battle-of-london-s-clubs-a3367426.html |archive-date=12 April 2019 |url-status=dead}} The club is now part of the 'Birley Clubs' owned by Caring including Annabel's, Mark's Club, Harry's Bar, and the Bath & Racquets Club.{{cite web |title=The Birley Clubs |url=https://annabels.co.uk/index.php?p=the-birley-clubs |publisher=Annabel's |accessdate=19 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120224153/https://annabels.co.uk/index.php?p=the-birley-clubs |archive-date=20 January 2022 |url-status=dead}}

George had 500 requests for membership prior to its opening. The initial membership fee was £400. Prospective members must be proposed and seconded by current members of the club. Birley stated that the club would be the last he opened, saying that "I have no intention of doing anything else, for better or for worse". George was designed to offer a more relaxed and less formal setting than Birley's previous clubs.

Upon opening in 2001 the "cool section" of George was the "one farthest from the front door". Birley, Cosima von Bülow and the art dealer Harry Fane were seated there on opening day. The downstairs of George has a bar described by Birley as a "nighterie{{nbsp}}... not a nightclub. You move downstairs at the end of dinner, sit around on sofas, have a drink, and listen to a little bit of music". A red private dining room seats 12. The George Private Bar opened in the basement of George in 2005.{{cite news |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A135989340/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=ebsco&xid=43496efd |title=By George - Birley is opening another Mayfair hot spot |date=9 September 2005 |work=Evening Standard |accessdate=1 February 2022}} The George Private Bar was established by Birley's son, Robin, and his sister, India Jane, who ran Birley's clubs during his ill health.

The head chef upon opening was Luca dal Bosco. He had previously been at Harry's Bar under head chef Alberico Penati. Dal Bosco described the food at George as possessing the "freshness of Italian cuisine, the technique of the French, and with an English taste". Birley's great-nephew, Daniel de la Falaise, was the assistant head chef upon opening. The kitchen of George is visible to the diners and runs the length of the restaurant. The restaurant of George seats 90. There is outside seating on Mount Street.

The club features David Hockney's sketches of his dachshunds Stanley and Boogie.{{cite news |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/george-private-members-club-dog-friendly |title=Is this canine heaven? Private members' club George reveals devoted dog offering |author=Annabel Sampson |date=3 March 2020 |work=Tatler |accessdate=29 January 2022}} Birley worried that he "[hadn't] got enough" Hockney etchings for the decoration of George as the decoration of his clubs typically took "several years to get right".

The club has a bespoke menu for pet dogs. In 2020 the club hosted a number of events to raise money for dog welfare. The events were organised by the George Dog Committee; its members include David Gandy, Carole Bamford, Yasmin and Amber Le Bon and Lily Fortescue. Birley's daughter, India Jane, hosted an exhibition of her paintings, "Canines and Companions" shortly before the opening of George.

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• {{Official|https://www.georgeclub.com/}}

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Category:2001 establishments in England

Category:British companies established in 2001

Category:Buildings and structures in Mayfair

Category:Gentlemen's clubs in London

Category:Restaurants established in 2001

Category:Mount Street, London