Maison Batard, Money Dysmorphia & our penchant for frivolous spending

We’re obsessed with being rich. And yet, we all feel broke.

Ciao.

I’m back from my weeks-longs hiatus. Did you miss me? I’m feeling refreshed and excited. For those out of the loop, I had to pop over to Australia to sort out visas, passports, among other health-related things. I used it as an excuse to take a holiday.

It felt like a healing do-over of my Christmas break, which had kind of freaked me out about returning home. That trip was me being torn between family, emails, appointments, friends, pitching to clients, trying to manage my northern-hemisphere-based team, and also, attempting to get some semblance of rest. It was a lot. Too much. I returned to London feeling exhausted. But alas, I learnt my lesson.

I managed to return to some of my favourite spots. I ate a gorgeous yuzu cake at Cibi. Drank orange wine at Hope Street. Went to a soothing yin class at Good Vibes Yoga. And had a few too many negronis at Above Board.

[L to R] The pumpkin agnolotti at Brico, Australian nature, the open kitchen at Suze

I also manage to check out some new dining spots. The fit-out at Suze is gorgeous. The service at Brico was on point. And Maison Batard… well, you’ll have to read on to get my honest thoughts there.

Lots has happened while I was away. Most recently, The Met Gala. But I’m intentionally not going to cover it here. (What is there to say at this stage of the week anyways?) I did love the coverage by Emily Kirkpatrick on I <3 Mess. So, if you’re dying for more Met content, I’ll happily point you in that direction.

OFFICE GIVEAWAY!

I’m giving away 3 x one-month subscriptions to I <3 Mess to the first 3 people who fill out this very quick survey. I want to know more about you all and why you like being here at the Office. I’ll contact the giveaway winners around this time next week. Okay, go!

Onto the good stuff…

Agenda for today’s letter:

1. Money Dysmorphia, frivolous spending and how we all feel broke

2. An honest account of Melbourne’s Maison Batard

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Money Dysmorphia, frivolous spending and how we all feel broke

The many thoughts on that viral New York Times’ piece

In a very Wealth Porn Woe’s-coded piece last month, The New York Times published an article about money dysphoria, and I could not be more obsessed with it. I’ve been long intrigued by the lavish display of luxury and wealth online. And from this viral NYT article, it appears I’m not alone.

In the piece, journalist Emma Goldberg, chats to a variety of twenty-somethings who are “plagued by economic self-doubt” as a result of the dizzying picture of lavish indulgence splashed across their social media feeds.

From luxury shopping hauls, to lavish holidays, to carousals upon carousals of martinis and tartare – how this content is warping our view of reality and distorting our sense of financial wellbeing now has a name. Financial planners have coined it “money dysmorphia.” And many of us are suffering from it.

In a 2024 Qualtrics study cited in the piece, 48% of Gen Z and 59% of millennials feel they are behind financially. 43% have a warped view of their sense of financial wellbeing. And almost half of us are “obsessed with the idea of being rich”.

I’ve previously waxed lyrical on my distaste of the wealth-porn aesthetic. But this piece brought to my attention that it’s not just luxury influencers and nepo babies who are to blame here. Money dysmorphia is being fuelled by the photos and videos of the everyday people – like you and me – who are seemingly living lives of excess…

It’s made me think that part of this is just the reality of being online today…