We can't tell whether this is a sign that we're all going to hell in a handbasket, or that London - despite the Spending Review - is booming, but Hugh Hefner is returning to these shores to reopen the Playboy Club in London.
Why should this be a story on Hot Dinners? Well, because the club will apparently feature a restaurant...as well as a members' club, gambling tables and a private gambling salon.
The new club, which is due to open in the first half of 2010 will be in Mayfair close to where Hefner's previous Playboy enterprise closed its doors in 1981.
'When we first opened the Playboy Club in London it was one of my favourite times for the brand,' Hefner told The Times. 'I look forward to our return and again sharing the notions that are celebrated in the magazine, the concept of good food and drink, pretty girls, and exciting entertainment.'
As to what that 'good food' might consist of, a look at an old menu shows that, surprise-surprise, food consisted of little more than steak and the Bunny Burger. Could it be a contender in London's heavily-competitive burger wars? You'll have to wait and see.
Design-wise the new Playboy Club should certainly look the business. London-based interior designers Jestico + Whiles, who were responsible for Hakkasan and have been brought in to work on the new W hotel in Leicester Square, have won the contract to design it.
