I've been away for the past 10 days doing a final edit of Paths of Glory before handing it in to Macmillan, but it was straight back to work this week with two charity auctions. On Monday night I was at Vintners' Hall raising money for the Pelican Cancer Foundation to help that excellent surgeon Bill Heald OBE in the research he's doing into prostate cancer. The beautiful pannelled hall only holds 130 people, and as most of those involved seemed to be family and friends, £35,000 from the auction was a very worthwhile result.
Last night I did an auction, the like of which I am unlikely to do again in my life. The cause was the Nicholl's Spinal Inujry Foundation and David Nicholls, with the help of Willie Bauer the international hotellier, had brought together four 3-star Michelin chefs: Michel and Alain Roux, Jean-Michel Lorain and Annie Feolde, as well as Pierre Herme who is known as the world's greatest patissier. Each chef cooked one course, in what was one of the finest meals I have ever experienced. But for me, the fun was in the auction items which included a private dinner for 8 cooked in your own home by Heston Blumenthal and a trip to Tuscany to eat at Alain Ducasse's famous restaurant. The six items between them raised £71,000. This event showed how important it is to have the right people in the audience; last night's guests were gourmets who were quite happy to spend £8,000 for a case of Chateau d'Yquem, but only £2,000 for a round of golf with Gary Lineker. I suspect that at a sporting auction, golf with Gary would raise £8,000 and the wine £2,000. Forgive the cliche, but it's horses for courses. My auction assistant, Christopher Beetles, behaved particularly badly last night, interrupting regularly, and it was only when I drove him back to his car that I discovered why. "I'll have to get a taxi," he said, "the wine was every bit as good as the food." It was a memorable evening.
Last night I did an auction, the like of which I am unlikely to do again in my life. The cause was the Nicholl's Spinal Inujry Foundation and David Nicholls, with the help of Willie Bauer the international hotellier, had brought together four 3-star Michelin chefs: Michel and Alain Roux, Jean-Michel Lorain and Annie Feolde, as well as Pierre Herme who is known as the world's greatest patissier. Each chef cooked one course, in what was one of the finest meals I have ever experienced. But for me, the fun was in the auction items which included a private dinner for 8 cooked in your own home by Heston Blumenthal and a trip to Tuscany to eat at Alain Ducasse's famous restaurant. The six items between them raised £71,000. This event showed how important it is to have the right people in the audience; last night's guests were gourmets who were quite happy to spend £8,000 for a case of Chateau d'Yquem, but only £2,000 for a round of golf with Gary Lineker. I suspect that at a sporting auction, golf with Gary would raise £8,000 and the wine £2,000. Forgive the cliche, but it's horses for courses. My auction assistant, Christopher Beetles, behaved particularly badly last night, interrupting regularly, and it was only when I drove him back to his car that I discovered why. "I'll have to get a taxi," he said, "the wine was every bit as good as the food." It was a memorable evening.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home