The Art of Conversation
Seated dinner · 30s & 40s · 20 guests · Private Members’ Club Kensington
Twenty guests, one long table, a quietly lovely private dining room. A handful had travelled from Europe and across the UK, which rather set the tone; no one was there by accident.
The guest list had been lightly curated, the gentlemen moved between courses, and the conversations did what good conversations do when the room is right: they follow unexpected paths, developing into so much more.
On the table, roast winter squash with buckwheat, red chicory and Old Winchester, followed by Chalk Stream trout with onion soubise, wild mushrooms and samphire. The wine was poured, the conversation followed, and for those abstaining, Nirvana’s alcohol-free beer, which held its own rather nicely.
Many had come straight from our Hello Petal party downstairs, but dinner has a way of settling into something more considered. By the following morning, the messages were already arriving, talk of decidedly interesting connections, and the tell-tale requests to be put back in touch with someone they hadn’t quite finished talking to.
