No grousing as luncheon gets rid of the pies
THE BEST rebrands tend to seem obvious in hindsight. And serving grouse and wine to a room full of wealth managers was always likely to go down well.
Yet even the organisers of the inaugural Grouse & Grape Luncheon were surprised by the clamour for tickets, having packed Dartmouth House with around 250 of Mayfair’s finest.
“We had been aiming for 200… and I’m sure you’re all glad we cut it off when we did,” said the event’s chairman Michael Maslinski, as trays of grouse buns and crackers wound their way through the heaving rooms.
The lunch, a sister event of the Gulls’ Eggs Luncheon, was formerly known as Pie & Prosecco. But after some changes to the board – and, one trustee revealed, some complaints about the mess from having to chomp on pies while balancing a glass of fizz – they plumped instead for game.
Wealth managers from the likes of Nomura, JP Morgan and Oriel were able to splash out on a silent auction and a stall selling platinum grouse cufflinks.
The event aimed to raise at least £20,000 for cancer charity Macmillan.