What a week this has been!

I have recently started listening to Deaf School again and particularly their song ‘What a week’ which includes the lyric, “77 and the summer’s gone, it’s all cooled down and the heat’s still on”. Deaf School were one of my favourite bands, who were sadly overshadowed by the rise and fall of punk in 76 and 77. Coincidentally Enrico and Bette(who is married to Suggs from Madness), two of the original members of Deaf School, have just released the first Deaf School album since 1978 on Probe Records.
This has been some week from a dining and vino experience. On Tuesday, dinner at the two star Michelin Helene Darroze at The Connaught, was beautifully presented and balanced. The crowd in The Connaught, a mixture of business and private types are made to feel relaxed by Head Sommelier, Huges Lepin.
The following day was the launch of G.H. Mumm’s prestige Cuvee R. Lalou 99 (as many people know I am the Champagne Ambassador for G.H.Mumm) at The Ritz. R Lalou 1999 is a fine piece of winemaking by Didier Mariotti, Chef de Cave for G.H.Mumm, that is really impressive now and which will keep. Andrew Neather, Evening Standard and Lucy Shaw, Drinks Business Fine Wine Review, have already written positive comments since the launch regarding this cuvee.
The basis of this launch was to serve Cuvee R Lalou 1999 at a range of different temperatures from 6 – 16 degrees in different shaped glasses, matched to a range of dishes created by John Williams, Executive Chef

at The Ritz. All of us could note the different flavours and complexities of R Lalou’s 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir blend as the serving temperature and glassware changed. The dishes created by John Williams were sublime and for many of us this was one of the most outstanding selection of courses that we had tasted for sometime. Hard to credit stand outs as the food matches were original and worked perfectly, however I particularly enjoyed the Salad of King Oyster Mushroom, Pecorino and Perigord Truffle and the superb Confit of Brixham Turbot, Oxtail with Hazelnut Butter.
On Thursday, I had the pleasure of presenting at Vogue House with Mantis, who have some fantastic locations for holidays. A great crowd and wonderful to meet some lovely people from Tatler, House & Garden, Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Johansens and Vogue.
My week ended with a planning meeting regarding Taste of London and this is going to be their most exciting show yet at Regents Park in June.
I was due to be at Newbury Racecourse yesterday for their top jump meeting of the year and as we know two horses sadly collapsed and died in the paddock before the first race. Electrocution seems the likely cause and Newbury had no choice but to abandon the remainder of the card. A very grim situation. What a week this has been.