An Evening of 1920s Entertainment at St Pancras Renaissance
I can still remember seeing the original Great Gatsby film with Mia Farrow and Robert Redgrave. I must have been in my early teens, because I went home, dressed up in my closest approximation to a flapper dress and practised dancing the Charleston in front of the mirror. Now I KNOW I can’t dance, but I still love that era. So the opportunity to go along to one of the most glamorous hotels in London for a glass of Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque 2004 and a special Gatsby era dinner to celebrate the launch of the NEW Gatsby film was one I simply wasn’t going to turn down.
Had I not been up to other things throughout the day, I might well have dressed up too. But, perhaps it’s just as well for the world that I didn’t, although all the staff did – and some of the other diners. And there was Jazz to liven things up!
Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque is the perfect champagne to drink at a glamorous event. Everything from the light, floral champagne through to the beautifully designed bottle fits the occasion. The St Pancras Renaissance had recreated one of the menus from 1921 for the event, so after our glass of champagne we went on to eat.
We started with Consomme Croute au Pot – a lovely light soup hiding under a flaky pastry shell.
Then, Boeuf Bouilli Flamande. This is the sort of beef dish you simply don’t find on menus today, very rich, slow cooked beef served with traditional vegetables and a deep reduction of stock.
Finally a trio of desserts.
All very elegant, and for me quite reminiscent of meals that I used to enjoy in my teens when I visited Ivy Cheeson, then in her eighties, who had been a cellist and mandolin player at the Café Royal in a Ladies Orchestra in the 1930s! Ivy recruited all the local young musicians to play chamber music with her, bribing us with excellent food and (don’t tell your parents) generous helpings of wine and sometimes sherry or port!
She never served us Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque champagne, but if she were alive today I think I’d just have to treat her.
We dined as Guests of Perrier-Jouet
Check you and your hidden talents! How good are you at the cello? You must be pretty good. That sounds like a fantastic treat – no wonder you have refined tastes now. I want to hear more about it!
actually I’m piano and fiddle (and voice), but Ivy was a professional cellist and a wonderful lady who used to terrorise the Norfolk population by attempting to break speed records in her Morris Minor down tiny hedge lined lanes. She also used to sell out of home made fudge and lemon curd which she MADE on the green at Burnham Market every year for the village fete. On a calor gas camping stove!
Ms Ivy trained you well. This elegant set goes well with all the fancy presentations.
Miss Ivy Cheeson was a most fabulous lady. I originally contacted her at my friend’s suggestion. I was 18, she was 80 and I wanted a lift from home to Orchestra (about 50 miles). My parents were overseas and there was a bus once a day – so no use at all!. It was a 20 mile or so diversion for her, but she suggested that she picked me up, took me back to her place for lunch and then on to Orchestra! And from that our friendship was formed.
I love the first photo. I wouldn’t mind getting out for an evening dressed like that… it would be such a special moment for me.