The Rake’s progress: last week in gossip

Rakewell practically choked on his gin and tonic as he opened this Sunday’s Observer, which features a conversation between restaurateur Mark Hix and his new business partner Damien Hirst, conducted over lunch. There are revelations aplenty: Damo doesn’t like skin on his fish, (‘[it’s] a phobia, a northern thing’, apparently) and though he no longer drinks, he would accept an ‘absinthe jelly’ if offered. The pair make many references to rolling out their newly revived Pharmacy restaurant as a chain (Notting Hill! Paris! Berlin!), but for some reason have not elected to lunch there. Instead, the conversation takes place at Scott’s, the august Mayfair restaurant chiefly famous for its seafood. Hix’s ambition to serve up ‘Viagra oysters’ aside, why miss an opportunity to promote the brand?

Perhaps Pharamacy 2 doesn’t match up to Hirst’s highly exacting standards? There’s only one thing for it. Rakewell has booked a table to find out for himself…

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Rakewell may have his own Twitter account (@Rakewelltweets), but he struggles to fathom hashtag culture. Last week, #gardenbridgeplantpix emerged – proposed by the Garden Bridge Trust as a photo competition to encourage tweeters to post images of plants in their gardens that will feature on the proposed ‘Garden Bridge’ in London. Recent contributions include an image of Kevin Costner attempting to grow foliage on a raft in the 1995 flop Waterworld, a photo of a sign reading ‘PRIVATE PARTY: INVITED GUESTS ONLY’ and a tweet from historian Dan Griffiths reading ‘If the prize is that you drop this grotesque vanity project I’ll hire David Bailey to take some.’

Can I put in an entry on behalf of Kevin Costner …. He’s very proud of this one! #gardenbridgeplantpix pic.twitter.com/M2bLYJuZih

— Jah, Ya Bass! (@jahyabass) April 17, 2016

Here’s my #gardenbridgeplantpix. I’m callIng it the “BoJo Democracy Memorial Hedge”, I hope you like it! pic.twitter.com/boH7mtWDBA

— Rosie Robbins (@RosieRobbins) April 14, 2016

#gardenbridgeplantpix #gardenbridge pic.twitter.com/aqocOrfYIO

— Paul Colbeck (@paulcolbeck1) April 15, 2016

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Artist Illma Gore, whose, erm, less-than-well-endowed nude portrait of Donald Trump caused quite the commotion earlier this year, has been threatened with a lawsuit if she attempts to sell the painting.

According to The Guardian, the image has been censored from social media sites and eBay, and the threat comes courtesy of an anonymous filing of a Digital Millennium Copyright Notice. Fortunately for Londoners, the picture is currently on display at Mayfair’s Maddox Gallery.

Got a story for Rakewell? Get in touch at rakewell@apollomag.com or via @Rakewelltweets.