ABOUT

Après, French for after. The part everyone actually remembers.

After the round. After the match. After the mountain and the moment when someone opens a bottle without making a thing of it. That's where the club has always lived.

The minutes of recent seasons record a steady conclusion: that taste is not purchased, it is acquired. Anyone can book the table. Fewer can say what they are eating, in which language, and why the wine was wrong. The club calls this cultural capital, though never at the table.

Members do not take lessons. They acquire accomplishments. Each season the club convenes a short curriculum, an expert who teaches, a room that hosts, and a great deal of discretion. Places are limited and awarded at the club's pleasure.

The clothing line remains, for those who wish to dress the part while they learn it. The Dispatches, written when there is something worth saying, record the rest.

Welcome to the club. Standards upon arrival.