Miscellaneous

🍴 Chef Matt Abé launches a seasonal £110 three-course lunch menu at Bonheur in London, available Thursday through Saturday. Chef Francesco Mazzei introduces Prezzo Fisso at Mezzogiorno, offering a southern Italian lunch at £39 for three courses or £32.50 for two. Nobu London on Old Park Lane presents the Nobu Signature Lunch for £40, featuring celebrated dishes, available weekdays. These culinary offerings highlight summer flavors and diverse cuisines in the heart of London.

✈️ ChatGPT optimizes flight booking, mimicking a $300/hour travel agent. It analyzes dates, nearby airports, and split tickets, ensuring a cost-effective booking. With five prompts: The Fare Detective Brief, Date Flexibility Map, Hidden Fee Audit, Points and Cash Check, and Booking Window Plan, users find the cheapest, most practical options. The system factors in hidden fees, loyalty points, and booking windows for strategic planning. Unlock AI expertise with free newsletters offering over 50 courses and 1200 ChatGPT prompts.

💼 In 2008, Belgian designer Maarten De Ceulaer revolutionized fashion storage with his "Pile of Suitcases" project at Design Academy Eindhoven, transforming wardrobes into configurable art. Medieval wardrobes, or 'garderobes,' evolved from rooms to furniture, highlighting the historical value placed on garments. The September 2026 Style Issue of Wallpaper* explores these transformations, available in print and digitally.

🏗️ Paul R. Williams (1894–1980) was a pioneering Black architect from Los Angeles, first registered Black architect west of the Mississippi. In 1923, he became the first Black member of the American Institute of Architects, winning the AIA Award of Merit in 1939. Williams designed 1,500 projects over six decades, including homes for Hollywood stars like Frank Sinatra. Three LA museums will showcase his work until March 2027. Posthumously, he received the AIA Gold Medal in 2017.

🍴 Threadneedles hotel in the City of London has partnered with The Mercer, an 18-year-old British brasserie. The Mercer has relocated to the historic banking hall, dating back to 1856. The menu features Dorset crab, dry-aged Hereford beef, and shepherd’s pie. The brasserie will handle private dining and event catering for the boutique hotel, which also boasts a bar in a former banking counter and serves afternoon tea under a stained-glass dome.

🛫 Flight search products struggle due to data limitations, with a bankrupt airline’s history valued at $10 million. Airline loyalty programs face challenges as load factors rose to 82% in 2025. Google acquires Spirit Airlines’ operational archive for $10 million, showcasing the value of decision-making data. Deloitte reports only 23% of loyal airline members find value, and Gen Z/millennials are underrepresented. Co-branded travel card revenue could reach $60 billion by 2035, with banks paying travel brands more.

☕ Nick Stevens, head of B2B for Nespresso for Business, prioritizes making Nespresso the premium coffee partner in the U.S. hospitality industry by fostering relationships with key groups and demonstrating sustainability advantages. Stevens emphasizes coffee's role in enhancing guest experiences across hotels and addressing cost pressures. Nespresso’s capsule systems now offer diverse beverage options and focus on sustainability, with significant investments in capsule recycling and responsible sourcing, while meeting evolving guest demands for quality and personalization.

📈 Google, in a $10 million bid after Spirit Airlines' bankruptcy, won auctioned data, including 10 million emails and 500 million Microsoft Teams conversations, but excluding 100 million passenger profiles. The data aims to enhance Google's AI models. A third party will anonymize data to address privacy concerns. A court hearing on September 9, 2026, will decide the transaction's validity after objections from Spirit's flight attendants' union. Spirit ceased operations in May 2026.