WORLD

WORLD FOCUS

FOCUS

ONLY GOD CAN MAKE A

GENTLEMAN
- ANYONE CAN MAKE A COCKTAIL

by Scott Alexander Young

The building,
a converted
retirement home
for army officers,
went up in 1898.
Its architects can
scarcely have
conceived how it
would be used 117
years later.

ever speak disrespectfully

of Society... Only people
who cant get into it do
that. - Oscar Wilde

The private members club may

have seemed daunting a few decades
back, especially to egalitarian New
Zealanders. Back then, and maybe
still, the image of a members club
was usually gentlemen only, and
all a bit snobbish and stuffy. Fusty
old retired colonels in three-piece
grey flannel suits, hidden behind
their newspapers as they snored
in leather armchairs - that was the
common impression.
Things
had
a
distinctly
contemporary shake-up in the
1980s, when The Groucho Club
opened its doors on Dean Street,
in Londons Soho district. The
Groucho, as it soon became known,
was the antithesis of stuffy. By the
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New York, Berlin, Istanbul and Los

Angeles.
Based as I am now in Budapest,
but something of a veteran of the
London club scene, I was bemused
a few years ago to see Budapest
gain its own arts and media private
club, Brody House. Now, while travel
writers might resort to phrases like
Jewel of the Danube or the Paris of
the East, to describe Budapest, its
still a most charmingly dilapidated
metropolis.
Although international coffee
chains, sushi joints and backpacker
hostels are now commonplace in
the Hungarian capital, the city has
retained its authentic character. Just
wander a little off the beaten track
in say the 8th district, and it is like
stepping back in time.
So, used as I was to Budapests
shabby genteel character, it was
a surprise at first to see a club like
Brody take off in such a big way,
which it most assuredly has. It all
goes on behind closed doors. Those
doors are tucked just a discreet

distance from the Champs-lyses

of Budapest, Andrssy Avenue.
The address is Vrsmarty
utca 38, and the sign that hangs
outside reads Brody Studios. This
is the home of the Brody arts and
members club, and to a vibrant,
ever-changing cultural programme.
Brody is definitely more along
the lines of the Groucho or Soho
House than Brooks or Boodles
(two more clubs of the old school
tie variety). Were as likely to find
skinny jeans as we will three-piece
suits here. And this is Budapest, not
London or New York, or even Berlin.
Theres a cosy informality
about the place and its denizens.
Brody Studios members are an
eclectic mixture of socialites, artists,
business people and celebrities.
With the number of international
film and Television productions
being shot in Budapest these days,
its not uncommon to spot famous
faces at the piano bar, or even on
the dance floor. (But of course even
if you are star-struck, or just wildly

1990s it had a firm hold on media

types, as well as rockers like Damon
Alburn, plus manqu and real artworld celebrities like Damien Hirst
and other members of the YBA
movement (Young British Artists).
Of course, if we can remember
those times, we probably werent
really there, but as the white dust of
hedonism settled and ashtrays went
the way of Britpop, The Groucho
persevered. It also found itself with
competition.
The sedate members clubs like
The Garrick (which recently voted
to remain a gentlemans club), and
Whites (established in 1693) carried
on as ever, but a new and brasher
breed of private club had arrived.
Principally there was Soho
House, whichhas expanded its brand
in the last dozen or so years, with
establishments not only in London,
but also the English countryside,
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impressed, the trick is not to show

it.)
Their ever-changing cultural
programme is just what it sounds
like. Most nights of the week on
just about every night of the year,
something is happening at Brody
Studios. Mixologists test-drive new
cocktails, vintners showcase wines
old and new.
There are English language
stand-up comedy nights every
month that pull big crowds, eager to
hear world-class comedians in the
flesh, something you cant exactly
take for granted in Central Europe.
There are regular literary
evenings, that have drawn an
impressive list of writers from
around the region and indeed the
four corners of the globe.
Brody Underground Cinema
is a monthly showcase of work
by Hungarian and locally based
filmmakers. Throw in live music,
guest DJ nights, pop-up fashion
stores and keynote addresses
by movers and shakers from the

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WORLD FOCUS

business world and we can see

theres seldom a dull moment.
Speakers and performers are
drawn from this countrys rich talent
pool, but also from a wide-ranging
international network.
Many of these events are
followed or accompanied by dinner.
Napkins on the tables proclaim
that, If you accept an invitation to
dinner, you have a moral obligation
to be amusing. Now of course, not
everyone who sits down to dinner
would give Dorothy Parker, the
eloquent American poet, critic and
satirist, a run for her money, but the
conversation is consistently lively,
sparkling even.
The building, a converted
retirement home for army officers,
went up 1898. Its architects can
scarcely have conceived how it
would be used 117 years later.
With its rough luxe interior
think paint peeling artfully from
walls, furnishings often comprised
of found objects and eclectic works
of art about the place - the studios
are a happy blend of the traditional

FOCUS

and the progressive.

Many of the artworks are
sourced from artists who have
worked, or indeed still do work
within the building itself. There are
three levels, with a bar, dance floor
and dining room, plus a screening
room upstairs; a piano bar and a
sheltered courtyard on the ground
floor and in the basement, a games
room with billiards and even table
football.
A little back story. Brody Studios
is part of the Brody House Group,
which was founded 2009. This was
when two creative entrepreneurs
from London, Peter Grundberg
and William Clothier, decided that
what this city needed was a meeting
place for inspired and successful
individuals from both home and
abroad - implying everything from
book launches to comedy nights,
from big, hedonistic parties to
private art showings.
The fun began in an elegant
townhouse across town named
Brody House, which was home to
the first such gatherings and a few
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rambunctious parties as well.

After one too many complaints
from their neighbours, Will and
Peter decided the house on Brody
Sandor Street would serve best as a
boutique hotel, and began searching
for a home for their members club,
somewhere they could turn the
volume up a little, and switch the
fun-meter right up to 11. Thus it was,
in 2013, after gutting and renovating
a building that was just on the right
side of derelict, that Brody Studios
was born.
If we would like to insinuate
our way into this little enclave of
high achievers and well-heeled
bohemians, how would we go about
it? While Brody may have thrown off
many of the trappings of traditional
members clubs, the rules for joining
remain the same.
We have to be recommended
by a member, and then that
membership has to be seconded
and approved by management. And
then of course, pay the annual fee.
But before we get that far, its safe
to assume that wed like to visit their

premises and meet some of the

members.
We could start by joining the
biggest club of all (Facebook, now
with a billion friends) and subscribe
to Brody Houses updates. We will
see which of their events are open
to the public. The restless and
dynamic Clothier and Grundberg,
and their hardworking and highly
polished staff have plans to expand
the Brody-verse even further, in
Budapest and beyond.
Back to the South Pacific. There
have been members clubs in New
Zealand for quite a long time,
considering the countrys short
history.
For instance, I was a guest
speaker at the Christchurch Club
some years ago, and was impressed
by the fact it was purpose-built as
a private club in the 1860s. It was
seriously damaged in the 2009
earthquake.
I note with interest that these
days, Auckland has its own Groucho,
Soho House or Brody, in the shape
and form of the Seafarers. Its in
a harbourfront building on the
Britomart, which was once a home
to seafarers from, well, the seven
seas.
Designed by award-winning
architects Fearon Hay, Seafarers
is spread over four floors of the
Seafarers Building in Britomart and
is open from early until late.
The
Michelin
Star-awarded
chef, Josh Emett, is no slouch in the
catering department. According to
their website, at the heart of it all is
the members lounge and bar, plus a
rooftop bar, which is attached to the
chic Ostro bar and brasserie. The
latter, I believe, is open to the public.
So even if we cant quite crack
the private members club scene, at
least we can console ourselves with
a good, strong drink.
After all, as American humourist
PJ ORourke once put it: Only God
can make a gentleman, but anyone
can make a cocktail.

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