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Annual Banquet, Cutlers Hall
November 1, 2010
Our annual banquet on the 1st of November 2010 held in the impressively elegant surrounding of Cutlers Hall. The present hall completed in 1888, is the fifth Cutlers Hall. Previous halls were located on various sites in the City of London one of which next door to a building owned by Dick Whittington. During the Second World War, the hall was fortunate enough to survive the great firebomb raid on December 29th 1941. The following morning only St Pauls and Cutlers Hall stood virtually unscathed. Unfortunately, on May 10th 1941 a high explosive bomb demolished the adjoining building and took away the entire north wall of the hall. However, by 1951 all damage had been repaired and was back in full use.
The evening was great success with 30 members and 53 guests enjoying a champagne reception followed by an equally impressive four-course dinner catered by Mark Grove’s Cook & Butler Company. A carefully selected selection of wines to compliment the wonderful food accompanied each course of the dinner. The first two courses of trio of Foie Gras followed by lobster and crab mousse were faultless. Our palate was then prepared for the following courses with a refreshing basil & vodka sorbet. The fillet of Scotch venison in a Grand Veneur Sauce was cooked to perfection, no mean feat when catering for so many people. Those of us with a sweet tooth, of which I am one, were not disappointed with the delicious pudding. During the course of dinner, we enjoyed copious quantities of wine all of which were excellent and I particularly enjoyed the Gewurztraminer and Cru Bourgeois, Haut-Medoc. The service throughout was impeccable and the quality of the food was as good as any top London restaurant. One of my guests who attend many functions in the City of London said that the catering at our banquet was by far the best he had experienced. Mark Grove has certainly raised the bar for volume catering. I am sure both members and guests will long remember our 2010 banquet; we have certainly set ourselves a challenge for future.
Julius Oberegger