It was at an off-cuff dinner one night last month that I found myself opposite actress Florence Pugh, as commotion around her new film Don’t Worry Darling hit its peaks. I’d received a non-descript text from Elli Jafari to come to The Standard Hotel’s monthly supper club – messages from whom London’s party set have learnt not to ignore.
Jafari, 45, is the charismatic Iranian-American hotelier who launched the King’s Cross branch of The Standard in 2019. You’ve probably seen her splashed across celebrities’ Instagram stories but had no idea who she was. This month, she was promoted to executive vice-president Europe and Americas of The Standard Hotel Group, she tells me, as we meet in the library-cum lobby over Padrón peppers and rioja.
