Talk about clouds with a silver lining! This past May has been, by all accounts, the dampest and coolest in recent London memory. Ah! The humanity of gals and chaps all over the Metrop taking their straw hats, co-respondents and gauzy white glad rags out of tissue paper in anticipation of summer… only to have to revert to sturdier tweeds and Fair Isle jumpers.
The upside, however, is that, as gents’ more formal clobber runs rather warm, the ‘crisp’ weather permitted one last (?) black tie outing before the dog days of summer banish the barathea to the back of (capacious) closets.
The inspiration for a return to the dear old Delaunay came from such a weather forecast and the call to arms was just a couple of days before the event. Though relatively modest in numbers, our set made up for it in elegance, if we say so ourselves – a quality that deserves and is fitting for that excellent background created by Messrs Corbin & King.
It must be said, at this juncture, that while the staff at the Delaunay remains as courteous and amiable as before Jeremy King’s departure, a couple of years ago, perhaps the perfect pitch of organisation has slipped a bit. At any rate, not enough to scupper the conviviality and flow of bubbly and cocktails.
A new addition (we think) is a 20s-30s inspired “Theatreland Cocktail menu” featuring a goodly selection of Golden Era concoctions. The helpful bartender will, of course, mix anything you desire “off menu”.
Everyone was fortified by lively conversation, the drinks and the companionable evening, by the time we left. The weather? It didn’t feel so cold after all.
