Alternative homepage 1

JAZZ UP YOUR JANUARY BLOW AWAY YOUR BLUES

Tuesday, Jan 16^th.  Boisdale of Mayfair.

So down a dark and narrow stairway we went – that being the eccentric approach to our private room in Boisdale of Mayfair and The Vinyl Bar and Groove Room the venue of our January party. But then there’s a lot about Boisdale that’s eccentric, which, no surprise, is exactly what attracted us to the kooky-kitsch, red-walled, tartan-clad, cigar-smoking, jazz-loving group of restaurants in the first place!
With its charming and capable fun-pectation team, what could possibly go wrong?
Led by delightfully capable GM Lizzie, and cocktail maestro team Stefan and Ricardo, they introduced us to a cocktail so delicious you really must try it at home.

The Dark and Stormy
45ml Chivas Regal Extra
15ml Ginger beer
10ml lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir, strain in a rocks-filled glass and garnished with lime

The night took off at a gallop and there were so many of us we were split into two groups. Pernod Ricard Whisky Ambassador Phil Huckle with his booming voice led the assault on our palates with a glorious taste tour and masterclass. But wait, where’s the assault of Whisky proportions as we know it? This combination of whisky and chocolate is mellow – a warm, palette pleasing sensation, decidedly rich but decidedly dammed fine!
As Phil charmed our palates with his whiskey non-assault course, delightful elocutionist and Artisan du Chocolates ambassador Danny wowed us with a chocolate pairing combination that really hit the spot. She paired:

Chivas Regal Extra with liquid Sea Salted caramels and maple syrup
The Glenlivet 12 year old with luxury ginger and lemongrass.

Skapa Skiren with a dark chocolate ganache.
Blending our two groups of 30 into one big group of 60 in our private vinyl bar in the basement our boisterous crowd barely drew breath. Lots of new friendships were formed, numbers exchanged and, empowered with our deeper awareness of whiskey and chocolat, we snuck back up the staircase. Eventually, that is – the party was so enthusiastic nobody (including moi) wanted to leave.  What a blast! To everyone involved in setting up this epic fun-feast, let’s do it again soon!

And some lovely feedback: –

Dear Barbara,

What a wonderful whisky galore fuelled evening on Tuesday, thank you so much. Lovely to see you and Lou and a host of friendly familiar faces. Great fun and a fantastic start to 2018. Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

J x

Hi Barbara

This was my first Rendezvous event and after the initial apprehension and losing 5 kilos of January weight in nerves….I really enjoyed it!  Can you please send me all the details to join the Rendezvous club and I can’t wait for the next event you were telling me about in the Casino.

C x

Hello hon …

Thank you so much for your hard work in arranging a fun evening on Tuesday.

X and I really enjoyed ourselves and met some lovely people who we are meeting up for coffees/dinners.

Love

D x

Hi Barbara

Thank you very much for the party yesterday I enjoyed it immensely.

I have heard only positive comments about your abilities as hostess well done!

I have heard there is another party you are hosting the Casino night that is meant to be the best if the season…

Can you remind me about it?

Thanks

T x

HI Barbara!  Thanks for the invite yesterday.  It was a great evening.

There was a girl there I was talking to called X. Would it be possible to introduce us on email?

See you soon.

C x

Giddy in Chelsea – 12th September

Goat Chelsea. 333 Fulham Road. Tuesday 12th of September.
Our members arrived for pre-event drinks (prinks) with the photo savvy Ms Laura Gub who is Brand You Max. Her company specializes in getting the photo that shows the best side of you. And we all want shine on social and frankly look hot to trot!
This September party signalled the start of the Autumn, and getting together with old and new single friends. Cherry blossom Bellini’s got the tongues wagging. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and stories.
The gang settled into the laid-back vibe at Goat, it has the comforting feeling of a place where we’ve all been before? Actually, come to think of it there were quite a few of us in the room who used to frequent this joint when it was a shabby Chelsea pub called the Goat in Boots….back in the day. I would know that because I was one of them! Those were the days when Rendezvous didn’t need to organize parties for singles – pubs were the place to party for singles – you just hit the right day of the week and hey presto – Giddy up!
But in the heyday of heads in phones we all need a little bit of help to meet some new friends and romantic acquaintances. And from the look of the room and numbers changing hands, it looks like our job was done.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon x

Summer Loving | Summer Party

Tuesday 4th July

Bernardi’s Dog House Room:  Marylebone W1.

Summer Parties! In the depths of winter just the thought of them can be one of the things that keep you keeping on. Trouble is, come the summer there are just too many of them. Diaries are packed, statement events are booked; we are all looking tippety-top in our sun-kissed summer best; now, can we fit them all in.

Not to be outdone, Rendezvous pulled out all the stops to make sure our party was a date not to be missed.   So fair play to all of those guests who tore themselves away from earlier engagements to join us. Never have we run a party where such a large amount of guests turned up over half way through the event!   Stragglers until late….in the bar till late, well someone had to keep them company!

The evening kicked off with a pre-event soiree for our Club Members hosted by our delightful friend and Date Coach Ané Auret.   Ané specializes in helping women find love all over again.  Turning a possible negative into a positive, she muses that we should never imagine that the best relationship is behind us; au contrair! The best is yet to come.   I couldn’t agree with her more.  I looked around the room at all the fabulous looking women; confident, smart, parents of accomplished children, financially secure … and thought “you men have got some amazing women here to choose from; you better get cracking and take some phone numbers!!”

Bernardi’s has become a firm favourite with our crew.  Not only does it reside in the newly-formed Portman Estate’s chic street Seymour Place, but they have the coolest interior and we get to have our very own room – the naughty corner in the basement bar, complete with an outside courtyard that was clearly the place to be.  ‘You will always find me in the courtyard at parties’, as Jonah Louie would have sung had he been there, and boy, he should have been.

We were greeted with a glass of prosecco and then treated to a procession of gorgeous canapés.   Assiette after assiette of delicious nibbles – from bruschetta to arancini, to delicious amuse-bouches and then teeny mouthfuls of pudding too.   Lemon meringue mini tarts anyone? I almost forgot I had given up sugar – oh go on, just the one….munch.

Just to add a little bit more fun to our Summer Loving theme our star guest was the Photo Booth.  Those clever creatives at Momentus Photo Booths dropped by and set up a party-sized booth, complete with two cheeky chappies on hand to answer any questions.  With a glass of confidence inside us and the party in full swing beside us, the Photo Booth is the guest that just keeps on giving; it’s the ice-breaker that takes the must-have pictures.  And the photos are spectacularly flattering; everyone looks a better/younger/thinner version of themselves.  And they’re always fun for everyone, whether you’re 5 or 105 years old.

I think you’ll agree we all looked like we were having a fabulous time.  One or two in the booth – or maybe let’s just see if we can squeeze in five.  What a hoot.   And who had the most photo stand-offs?  Was it Lou Lou or was it Richard? No, having his photo taken for a change, it was Rendezvous’ fave photographer Stevie Roberts, that’s who!

So there we have it, Summer Loving, it was a blast, Summer Loving it happened so fast.   Summer days drifting away, oh ho for the summer nights.

Wella, wella…have an amazing summer everyone – looking forward to seeing you all in September.

Boisdale: The Art of Gin Cocktail Making

Tuesday 6^th June.

If you think Rendezvous is just about matchmaking people – you’re partly right but we’re also pride ourselves in being pretty good at matching ourselves to brands to give our singles the best possible backdrop to a perfect social night out.

Boisdale’s last week was a balmy summer evening, buzzing, boisterous and bubblicious a bloody-brilliant Thomas Dakin Gin event in the back bar.  The effervescent and contagiously-enthusiastic head of events for Boisdale the delicious Mark Shelton and I hatched a plan a few months back to do a mash-up of our two members clubs.  Boisdale members to be mixed with Rendezvous club members.

This mix-up theme got our crew mixing cocktails.  And they got really involved!  Thomas Dakin Gin curator Alix Walker in his flat cap and waistcoat, shared his stuff about the history of Gin. Thomas Dakin was an entrepreneur and a forefather of Gin in the 18^th Century.  At the time only the Dutch were dabbling with the stuff and calling it Juniper; the Brits took the fluff out of that name and got it down to a neat abbreviation that would roll off the tongue in any state of inebriation.  Cheers.

Our crew got to work behind the bar, shaking, swizzling and stirring in pairs, freshly  prepared cocktails were passed to new friends but some were just too good to give up!

Whatever happened the combination of mixing, stirring, muddling and laughing made for a superbly good fun night.  And just to conclude my theme on all things good starting with B (modest moi?) …can we just say Boisdale Belgravia – Back Bar….the coolest little cocktail bar in town.

Here’s the creations that Alix himself came up with and we got to shake up.

The Manchester Bee
Serve in Coupettes or Martini glasses

• 35ml Thomas Dakin Gin
• 2 tsp of honey
• 25ml lemon juice

In a shaker stir honey with the Thomas Dakin gin until dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients.  Shake or stir with ice and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with thin orange wheel float.

Tom’s Spritz
Serve in a Casablanca style glass/tall rocks glass.

• 35ml Thomas Dakin Gin
• Sugar syrup
• Ground Black pepper
• Basil
• Lemon juice

In a glass pop the basil first and muddle, followed by the black pepper, Gin and sugar syrup and top up with your favourite mixer.   Ours was by fab mixers Brand Merchants Heart in their lemon flavour.

We had such fun with Boisdale we will be having another event in August.  If you would like to be on the waitlist for the event as it sold out quickly.  Please email barbara@rendezvous-london.com