10 top tips for a Christmas party to remember!

The stress of organising a Christmas party for your staff can get a little overwhelming. Questions like is anyone actually going to turn up? Have I ordered enough food? Have I chosen the right venue? are probably already keeping you up at night. Fear not, I have put together my top tips for creating the best Christmas party.

By now you will have booked the venue and sent out invitations (if not don’t panic, we still have availability at 41PP), so now it’s down to the small, yet essential, details to make this party a night to remember for all the right reasons.

Here are my top tips:

1. Transport - To avoid that tumble weed moment when your boss arrives on their tod and unleashes their awkward side step moves on the dance floor, you will want to ensure the majority of guests arrive at the same time. Pre-book taxis for a discounted rate and organise a meeting point where your colleagues can team up and bundle in a cab.

2. First impressions - These are often the only ones that are remembered. Ensure there are complementary cocktails or mulled wine on arrival and spruce up the outside of the venue by projecting your company logo on the wall. Make your colleagues feel like movie stars by hiring a red carpet and photographer - the photographs make a great keepsake and will hang on your office pin board for years to come.

3. Pamper hour - Whilst the men rush to the bar, the ladies first stop is always the rest rooms. If your party follows on from a day at work, the chances are most guests will have been applying their make up in the taxi, so while the venue will have taken care of the essentials treat your guests to a hamper of scents and balms by the basin to ensure they hit the dance floor feeling fresh. (P.S don’t forget the boys – you know how much Dan from IT likes his CK1)

4. Canapés and cocktails - After their arrival cocktail, treat your guests to some festive canapés. Be playful with your selection to avoid “canapé déjà-vu” from every other festive reception your guests have been to. 41 Portland Place's Chef Will has cleverly created a ‘Canapéculiar’ menu which pairs unusual ingredients to entice and surprise guests. Why not try the scallop and passion fruit or dark chocolate mousse with fried shallot. Whatever your selection, ensure they are presented in a way that will ‘wow’ your guests to create a talking point. If in doubt choose British classics – mini fish and chips, roast beef and mini Yorkshire puddings and sausage and mash - a crowd pleaser every time!

5. Let me entertain you! - While the main entertainment might be a DJ or band, you will want to keep your guests occupied from the moment they arrive. You can get great last minute deals with entertainers so why not book a magician or mobile masseuse to work the crowd before the dance floor fills up.

6. The main event - Once the canapés have done their rounds hungry Harry from facilities will start to stare in desperation at every passing waiter. Try something different to the usual finger buffet and opt for a range of food stalls. They are a great way to please a crowd and allow guests to pick and choose when and what they would like to eat. Popular food stalls at 41PP include risotto stations, teriyaki salmon stalls and ice cream parlours.

7. A moment of reflection - Christmas parties are a time to celebrate the achievements of the past year and let your hair down with colleagues. Don’t forget to ask your CEO if he would like to say a few words of praise and present awards for achievements throughout the year, and be sure to include a few funny ones to keep it light hearted.

8. Relax! - It’s your Christmas party as well! Leave the stress at the door and let your Events Manager to do what they do best... so grab the girls and strike a pose in that photobooth!

9. Carriages - Pre-book a handful of taxis for closing time and send your guests on their way with a bottle of chilled water, a slice of Christmas cake and some Berrocca - they will thank you in the morning.

10. The morning after - Sweet talk your bosses into a 10am start the next day and greet your colleagues with freshly brewed coffee and bacon sarnie.

Merry Christmas! 

Happy Halloween

I hate to cheat on Christmas but Halloween is slowly becoming my favourite holiday. A chance for family and friends, old and young to get together and dress up like ghosts and ghouls. 

Not needing any persuasion for a theme, tonight I will be celebrating with my family around a big ol’ bowl of fiery chilli surrounded by candle lit pumpkins and blood red roses.   

Looking for inspiration I turned to my trusty Pinterest. 

Here are my top pumpkin picks...

Flower filled pumpkin- perfect for a centre piece 

Clean and clinical - perfect for a murder mystery party

Chocolate orange macaroons 

Red and black

Perfect for those who are looking for a grown up spooky supper

Organic inspired place settings 

Away days at 41 Portland Place

Listed as one of Event Magazines “Capital of Cool” venues in London, 41 Portland Place is the perfect venue to motivate and inspire delegates. Away days are an important team building event in a company’s calendar so while organisers are busy working on the days objectives, we like to look after the fun stuff. From sharing our love of food and taking part in a master class in the kitchen to a Zumba class from an exotic (and very hyperactive) South American, we have a range of activities aimed to excite and challenge all personalities.

The Canapé cup

The humble canapé is a sure fire way to impress at any social gathering. Made up of 3 parts, guests will begin by learning the science behind flavour matching whilst picking up handy tips from Chef Will’s live demonstration. Next, it’s time to warm up those taste buds and worm out those who know their Wensleydale from White Stilton in a blind tasting. The afternoon concludes with a ready, steady, cook inspired competition where guests are tasked with creating three creative canapés from a collection of intriguing ingredients. Judged in an intense finale, the winning team will be awarded with the lucrative Canapé Cup.

Wine championships

Hosted by our trusty wine merchant Jascot’s, the wine championships embodies the traditional methods of wine tasting whilst encouraging friendly competitiveness. After an arrival tipple of the finest bubbly, guests have the opportunity to learn the basic skills of wine tasting before splitting into teams to compete in the wine championships. A great alternative to conventional wine tasting appealing to a wide range of ages and interests. 

Chocolate boot camp

As well as being famous for his amazing brownies, our Head Chef Will Carvalho is also a master of creating delicious Brazilian Brigadeiro’s(a South American twist on chocolate truffles for non-foodies) The chocolate boot camp gives your guests a chance to roll up their sleeves and learn Chef Will’s famous family recipe whilst working as a team to create enough delicious delights to take home and share with loved ones.

Health kick

Banish those winter blues by treating your team to a rejuvenating health kick at 41 Portland Place. Focusing on the mind, body and soul, guests will embark on a nutritional journey learning the values of healthy eating with live demonstrations and tips on how to create their very own five-a-day menu. Next, it’s time to get foot loose and fancy free in Zumba followed by rehydration remedies at the DIY juice bar.

If you’re organising this years away day and need a little inspiration why not get in contact?

Nikki@41portlandplace.com

0203 176 2182

‘Brazilian Brigadeiro boot camp’

On Tuesday Chef Will and I welcomed four lucky competition winners through the doors of 41 Portland Place to learn how to make Will’s renowned chocolate truffles in our ‘Brazilian Brigadeiro boot camp’.

The winner, who was chosen at random by The Westminster Collection, was Jessie from The Shape Arts Charity. Jessie brought along three of her chocolate loving friends to join in the evenings activities.   

The boot camp kicked off with a glass of bubbly and a tour of the venue before making our way down to the kitchen. 

After a quick hand wash Will talked the guests through the history of the Brigadeiro before putting them to work over the hob. After making the mouth watering truffle base we were all too impatient to wait for it to set. Luckily, in true Blue Peter style, Will whipped out ‘one he prepared earlier’. Guests then buttered up their hands and set about creating a variety of chocolate delights. Toppings included peanuts, hazelnuts, cocoa and for the more adventurous, guava and parmesan. 

After a game of “one for the box and one for me” the trusty team had created over 50 delicious truffles to take home for their loved ones.  

If you would like to try this at home follow Will’s simple recipe below.   

To be in with the chance to take part in our next ‘Brazilian Brigadeiro boot camp’ all you need to do is book a site visit before December 1st 2013. 

What are you waiting for...come ‘pop’ by.

Deloitte Canapé Cup

41 Portland Place’s Head Chef Will Carvalho and I recently hosted an away day for global finance gurus Deloitte. The day’s agenda was jam-packed with productive, brain-boggling tasks, and it was our job to ensure the team let their hair down for the afternoon activity - exercising their taste buds and bonding with their colleagues over the love of food.

We kicked off the ‘Deloitte Canapé Cup’ in the Exhibition Area, where we hosted a quick master class on how to create two of the canapés from our Canapéculiar menu. For those who aren’t familiar with the 41PP Canapéculiar menu, this is a collection of canapés Chef Will cleverly created which skilfully mingles curious flavours together to create an out -of –ordinary taste sensation. During the master class Will demonstrated how to create a dark chocolate mousse with crispy shallots and potato chips with cream of brie & vanilla. After the presentation, the inquisitive audience sampled Will’s creations in preparation for part two of the session.

Next it was time to put those taste buds to the test. I chose two teams of three to go head-to-head in a blind tasting. One by one each member was blindfolded whilst their team mate popped a canapé in their mouth. The candidate then had 15 seconds write down the suspected ingredients.

First up was the ham hock and chicken terrine with apple chutney - a tricky combination of two meats which really put our first tasters to the test. Next up was the lobster with caviar- a concoction for the more refined palette. The scores stood at one-all after the second round with everything resting on the final canapé, strawberry with parmesan shortbread and crispy pancetta. Each team had to identify the meat, the fruit and the base. After each team described the summer fruits and shortbread base it all rested on tasting out the meat...unfortunately both teams struggled to identify the third ingredient which meant a draw. Nevertheless the prize bottles of wine were greatly received by both teams. 

After a quick question and answer session with Chef Will, we moved  onto part three of the activity. The 35 guests were asked to split into four teams and move into the Laurie Landeau and Fellows Room. I then asked each team to take their seats at their designated table where they found mini bowls of scallops, passion fruit puree, white chocolate truffle mix, guava puree, parmesan, cooked Lamb, parsnip puree, pears and chocolate flakes. Armed with canapé spoons, each team were tasked with creating three canapés from the ingredients to present to Will in a final taste-off.

Little did they know all of the ingredients provided made up three of our existing canapés from the Canapéculiar Menu. The aim of the game was to establish which flavours enhance others to create 3 tasty canapés (with extra points awarded for guessing which flavours made up the canapés from our menu). After Chef Will had tasted all 12 canapé creations the winning team was announced and awarded with the Deloitte Canapé Cup!

After a quick freshen-up, guests made their way up to the Terrace where chilled beers and a sizzling barbecue awaited them.

The afternoon was a huge success and I was so pleased to have a group of delegates who were so hands on with every aspect of the activity.

Deloitte said…

“We had a fantastic day at 41PP. The venue is fabulous and was the ideal location for our team strategy day. Nikki did a great job of designing our afternoon activity - it was great to get out of office to spend some time together as a team and have everyone taking part in such an interesting and different activity. Chef Will was really engaging and we all went away with some great ideas for canapés to try at home! Thanks to everyone at 41PP for a great day – we wouldn’t hesitate in recommending 41PP as a venue for meetings and away days.”

Anna Chapman, Director, Deloitte 

The Best Employers in Hospitality awards 2013

As the clock approached 3pm on a grey and damp Monday afternoon, I began to think about exotic combinations of freezer food I could chuck together to enjoy in front of some trashy TV - A thought that was quickly banished as a last-minute invite to represent Harbour & Jones at the 'Best Employers in Hospitality 2013’ awards popped up in my inbox!

Too good of an opportunity to pass up, I pulled together a semi-acceptable 'black tie' dress, whipped a few curls in my hair and applied another coat of red lippy. With a splash of sample perfume from John Lewis, I was on my way to the Lancaster hotel to join my other employees for a *fingers crossed* celebratory night.

With champagne and olives on arrival, the room quickly filled with an air of excitement whilst colleagues nattered over who was going to win the all important prize of the evening 'Best Employers in Hospitality 2013'.

At 7.30pm we were invited to take our seats in the beautiful Grand Ballroom. Themed in black and purple the ambiance was electric as contenders settled at their tables for the evening.

After wine had been served, the starter was soon to follow: fresh roasted sea bass with red miso, pickled melon and radish salad with yuzu dressing. For the main course we enjoyed a breast of roasted guinea fowl served with pressed celeriac and truffle potato, ragout of marinated artichokes, sun blushed tomatoes, black olives and a rich tarragon chicken jus. As if I hadn’t had my fill after the scrummy savouries, out came pudding, which was an adult’s Halloween delight.  A clever play on the toffee apple, it was a trio of carpaccio English apples, toffee bavarois with Hampshire Cox and Bramley apple sorbet.

I really do have to say, compliments to the chef. The level of presentation teamed with tasty, fresh flavours and piping hot plates was a promising start to the evening.

Shortly after coffee and petit fours were served, our host for the evening took to the stage. I never really find comedians funny. However, whilst telling a story about being overweight, he launched himself across the stage resulting in a domino effect of crystal trophies smashing to the floor. The slightly taken aback audience didn't know whether to sit in an awkward silence or roar with laughter. I chose the latter and thought it was hilarious! I would have been mortified if this had happened to me however it broke the ice (literally) and set the tone for the night.

We didn't have long to wait before our category was called: ‘The Best Medium Contract Cater Employer 2013.’ Contending against The Good Eating Company, we waited on tenterhooks for the winner to be announced.

WE WON! Being the raucous bunch of personalities that we are, a field of high-pitched squeals and masculine woooo’s filled the room. We all quickly made our way up to the stage with Mr Jones himself to collect our award.

Putting the Jones in 'Harbour & Jones'

Being fresh out of university when first joining Harbour & Jones the opportunities and encouragement I have had over the last two years have been invaluable. Although we all work very hard at what we do, the emphasis on having fun is paramount. I love that there isn’t a divide between senior management and employees therefore everyone is treated fairly. The clear presence and input of Patrick harbour and Nathan Jones keeps everyone striving in the right direction to do the best for the company.  

A worthy award for a truly amazing employer!

Thanks for having me H&J!