Possible new venues

[jdaw1]

This thread is to hold discussion and notes about restaurants (and the like) that might be a suitable venue for a port tastings, whether in London, in New York, or elsewhere. This is to include simple notes of places worthy of some further investigation, as well as more detailed discussion of places about which more is known.

[jdaw1]

Bloomsbury pub and restaurant, The Lady Ottoline, formerly a Charrington pub, on the intersection of John Street and Northington Street, near Theobald’s Road, WC1N 2JF. In the pub excellent ale (ELB’s Nightwatchman) was served by a very competent and intelligent barman; the restaurant upstairs has a private room, seemingly little-used, which looked good. Generally excellent aesthetics. Usual corkage is £4 per bottle; and the wine list has Fonseca Quinta do Panascal 2005 at £40”“ε (‟Concentrated & lucious black fruits with velvety tannins & a long smooth finish”) as well as Barros LBV 2003 at most of £32. The one known problem is the weak lighting in the private room. Apparently The Lady Ottoline is always busy late in the week, but almost empty on Monday.

Our dining room can seat up to 45 guests and is available for private hire. Our private dining room can seat between 10 and 15 guests and is available with a banqueting menu.

For tables of 8 or more or to enquire about private hire, please call 020 7831 0008

I will return to eat, tout seul, and to enquire about glasses. A further report will follow.

[DRT]

This sounds promising, particularly the "Generally excellent aesthetics".

The location might be unwelcome by those who have already commented the High Holborn is inconvenient as this seems to be even further away from the tube lines preferred by some.

Worth a try, and an excellent idea for a thread.

[g-man]

Running list of places in NY:

Square MEal:
http://www.squaremealnyc.com/
accomodates only 6
North Square: Private room, pre fix 100$/person all included

Harry's:
harrysnyc.com/
125-150$/per son private room

Uncle jacks'S Westside
440 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10001
212.244.0005
: 125$ / personal all included private room

Afkhan kebab house
764 9th Ave New York, 10019
(212) 307-1612:
Ala carte, no corkage, no nonsense, no glassware but BYOB.
Small tables

Sarabeth's West
http://www.sarabethswest.com:
Can get crowded, long tables, friendly.

Hillstones
Hillstone.com
Can get very very crowded during busy times, will push the tables
but when free nice booths, free corkage, ~50$/person

[jdaw1]

The location might be unwelcome by those who have already commented the High Holborn is inconvenient as this seems to be even further away from the tube lines preferred by some.

The Lady Ottoline has a good location for those going to Kings Cross, or otherwise needing the Piccadilly or Central lines. Probably less good for Wokingham.

[DRT]

The location might be unwelcome by those who have already commented the High Holborn is inconvenient as this seems to be even further away from the tube lines preferred by some.

The Lady Ottoline has a good location for those going to Kings Cross, or otherwise needing the Piccadilly or Central lines. Probably less good for Wokingham.

Also an extra 10-15 minutes walk (≈1 pub stop) for those who tend to stay near Westminster/Victoria.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Jonathan, manager of the Bung Hole, said that he is to become manager of Grapeshots, and that he will try to persuade us to hold tastings there.

Oh dear. After just becoming used to Bunghole as our new home, everything is disrupted again. I took a look at the Grapeshots (GS) website and concluded the following:

Advantages of the new venue over the old
- Jonathan is the manager
- Close to Liverpool Street station

Disadvantages of GS over TBH
- East of Bishopsgate
- More inconvenient for Waterloo
- Menu link on the website broken, so unable to check menu
- No private rooms
- poor selection of ports on the wine list menu

I am not convinced of the merits of moving to our third location in three months! I think we need to ask for willing volunteers to undertake a personal inspection of GS before we come to a decision.

Any volunteers?

[DRT]

I am happy to take a look, but the location and prospect of moving from TBH are both very unappealing to me.

[RAYC]

I am happy to volunteer to be part of a tasting group that tests this out as a new venue.

But i do like The Bunghole, and also retain a fondness for TCP so would be sad if we never went back there.

[jdaw1]

Davy’s first bar, the Boot and Flogger, 10-20 Redcross Way, London SE1 1TA.

The wine list included:

• £120, Cockburn 1963;
• £120, Quinta do Noval 1966;
• £120, Dow 1970;
• £90, Offley 1970;
• £90, Warre 1970;
• £190, Sandeman 1970 magnum;
• £65, Croft 1985.

The Dining Room would make an excellent venue for six of us, and there were large rooms about which I couldn’t decide whether fourteen would or wouldn’t work. The lighting might be a problem.

[jdaw1]

This BBC article made me wonder whether it could be our home away from home.

OK, perhaps not.

[djewesbury]

Moved from Ramos-Pinto: Tuesday 21st October 2014.

This may be a stupid (or even 'brainless') question, but are the various branches of Davy's our only current options? Are there any other friendly pubs / wiine bars with steak on the menu and a function room? The kind that you can use for free for meetings to discuss the overthrow of the state, etc?

[flash_uk]

Are there any other friendly pubs / wiine bars with steak on the menu and a function room?

A good challenge to occupy us in the months coming up to Christmas. I will explore in the area around my office.

[djewesbury]

Are there any other friendly pubs / wiine bars with steak on the menu and a function room?

A good challenge to occupy us in the months coming up to Christmas. I will explore in the area around my office.

Thank you Mike. A very noble offer. I am aware that we have very specific requirements: space, temperature, food, lack of a problem with corkage, but I feel sure that somewhere in the City / east end of the West End, there are other venues that can meet all or most of these requirements.. There must be?

[PopulusTremula]

I will also have a look around the office but I think Rob's comment in another thread was very apt; what we enjoyed at TBH was too good to last.

[jdaw1]

Rob's comment in another thread was very apt

A pity, though with hindsight the arrangements at the Bunghole were too good to last and we should be thankful for the 2.5 years we have had there. I suspect we will have to get used to paying more to hold central London tastings in future...but since the weekly event schedule of 2012 has dropped off somewhat, perhaps that is not as serious as it once was.

[jdaw1]

But as AHB has said St. James's would be very convenient (much more so than Woolgate).

EDIT: the Club Room at St. James's looks very agreeable. Could a researcher visit?

The Club Room at Davy’s at St James’s:

[flash_uk]

It certainly looks like a research visit to St James is required. The menu is the familiar steak menu. Tick. The fireplace is decorated with spent bottles of port. Tick. The table looks like it could accommodate 14 settings. Tick. Central location. Tick.

The run up to Christmas looks a little busy. Perhaps a January visit?

[jdaw1]

Each table is 75cm square, so this double-table arrangement meant that the total width was 1½m ≈ 59″. This worked really well. I and others liked that amount of space — room for glasses, notes, water, things, and lots of food.

[flash_uk]

Yes, Woolgate definitely a winner in terms of all the desired attributes.

And I have only now just remembered the reason why one face who shall remain nameless is privacy-blurred

[Alex Bridgeman]

And I have only now just remembered the reason why one face who shall remain nameless is privacy-blurred

It was my inability to focus on the face of the person sitting next to me that caused me to leave early, convinced that I had already drunk too much!

[jdaw1]

Davy’s at St James’s: the Club Room.





Lovely room; bad lighting; impressively huge decanter.

[jdaw1]

Davy’s at St James’s: the Office.





Great room for four; five would be acceptable; six tight; seven or more won’t fit.

[flash_uk]

Mmm. Those pictures of the Club Room suggest that 14 in there will not be feasible, though 10 yes easily, 12 probably OK.

So it would seem that St James might be a place for 6,8,10,12 sittings. Woolgate can handle sittings of 10/12 and importantly 14 in the Brasserie, as well as 6 or 8 in the Boardroom.

I think it would be very useful to explore a little at Davy's St James when we visit. They also show a "Champagne Cellar" on the website which might be an option for more space...

[jdaw1]

They also show a "Champagne Cellar" on the website which might be an option for more space...

Yes, rather like the tunnels at the Crusting Pipe, except that the tables are — growl — 75cm, and they can’t fit two side-by-side. (Occupied when I visited, so photographs weren’t taken.)

[jdaw1]

Davy’s at St James’s: notice to staff.

[djewesbury]

Oh for God's sake…

[jdaw1]

Oh for God's sake…

I would have phrased it differently, but the sentiment is exactly correct.

[flash_uk]

I wonder how baked the plans for St James are. Perhaps we could ask Mr Davy if he would entertain a TPF QA of the proposed plans, including table specifications.

[jdaw1]

We are booked in to Plantation Place for Wed 29th. Are you willing to join us?

We have also learnt that a refurb of St James’s is planned. One of our number asks:
> I wonder how baked the plans for St James are. Perhaps we could ask Mr Davy if he would entertain a TPF QA of the proposed plans, including table specifications.
http://www.theportforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 991#p82991
If you would like to reply, I’m happy to intermediate (though you are very welcome to reply directly).

Thanks for the invitation, I can’t make the 29th.
St James’ refurb is next summer. There are and will be many tables of different sizes, especially in the bookable area so the point is noted.
St James’ was one of the venues I was going to recommend to you with bigger tables than Holborn. In addition please note this applies to Champagne Charlies, Davy’s at Plantation, Davy’s at Woolgate, Truckles, Boot & Flogger, Davy’s Wine Vaults, Habit.
Hopefully a few there that will suit your group. All have private rooms ideal for tastings/suppers.

[DRT]

Since its inception has used Davy's wine bars as the location for >90% of its UK tastings. Should we be diversifying rather than staying on the same tracks in the hope of finding the kind of place and experience that we have enjoyed at TCP and TBH? Are the strategic visions of Davy's and heading in the same direction?

[djewesbury]

I agree. It can't be impossible.

[jdaw1]

Should we be diversifying

We eagerly await your specific suggestion.

[djewesbury]

Should we be diversifying

We eagerly await your specific suggestion.

You admit that you lack the imagination?

[DRT]

Should we be diversifying

We eagerly await your specific suggestion.

It was a question rather than an assertion that I have a better plan.

What attributes are we looking for:

1. Central London
2. Reasonably priced, good quality grub
3. Private room(s) for up to 14 people with 35ish glasses each
4. Willingness/ability to supply lots of clean glasses at relatively short notice
5. Willingness to put up with our pedantry
6. Willingness to put up with our occasional invasion of their kitchen space
7. Good lighting
8. No music
9. Cool temperature
10. Custard

So, apart from about half the Davy's bars, does anyone know of anywhere that meets all of those criteria?

Have I missed anything? (that can be printed on a family-friendly forum)

[jdaw1]

11. Not going to bankrupt us with corkage.

[flash_uk]

We tried Davy's at Plantation Place. Perfectly fine for 7 people. So far it seems that Davy's Woolgate Function room is our only option for tastings of 8-14 people.

[jdaw1]

In terms of the venue-obviously smaller than TBH and with less atmosphere but fine for up to 6/7 people. I'd rate the food ok-the steak was cooked as per order but was a little on the cool side. For their first time hosting, the service was good and they didn't appear to be in any immediate rush to turf us out. Didn't attend the Woolgate tasting (which seems to be currently first in the pecking order) but interesting taking tastings on tour and I certainly wouldn't be averse to trying other venues.

[quote="

The venue was adequate for this size of tasting and would be very comfortable for a group of four or five.

[jdaw1]

The Board Room in Davy’s at Plantation Place, as photographed during the Croft vertical on Wednesday 29^th October 2014.

[jdaw1]

The Board Room in Davy’s at Plantation Place is an excellent room for six, and accommodated seven without excessive cosiness. Eight would require that people be friendly, and nine+ doesn’t work. In the way of newly-constructed bars, a mite soulless, but only a mite. Service and food excellent.

The Board Room is the largest room at Plantation Place, so is unsuitable for fourteen-man tastings.

[Alex Bridgeman]

The large room at Woolgate seemed to work well for the Ramos Pinto tasting, which I think was a full 14 man tasting.

Other (Davy's) venues we could try include:
- Davy's at Canary Wharf, used for this tasting in Feb 2013. At that time there were a number of private rooms suitable for our use.

- Bangers Bar & Grill, currently being managed by Ian Wright, an old friend of the forum and with rooms to fit 5-30 people. Not hugely convenient for me since it is located in Wilson Street, but perhaps worth a try.

The search for non Davy venues at sensible prices will continue...

[jdaw1]

the Ramos Pinto tasting, which I think was a full 14 man tasting.

There were twelve of us at the Ramos Pinto tasting.

[PhilW]

the Ramos Pinto tasting, which I think was a full 14 man tasting.

There were twelve of us at the Ramos Pinto tasting.

There was indeed twelve of us at RP vertical; We also measured and found that there should be sufficient space for the additional places needed to extend this to 14-man tasting in the same format, using 3xA4 sheets for glasses and room for food. This is the plan for the upcoming Martinez tasting.

[benread]

I was chatting with a fellow Reigate dad at the weekend. We got onto the subject of port, the port forum and tasting venues. He suggested the Boot and Flogger and the pictures certainly look promising. It is south of the river, but being proximate to Southwark tube, London bridge (tube and mainline) and Waterloo, that may not be such an issue.

Does anyone have any experience of it as a venue?

[jdaw1]

Boot and Flogger

Links: streetmap.co.uk; maps.google.co.uk; bing.com.

Very convenient for this south-of-river person, so willing to give it a go. Ben: are you able to take charge and arrange a tasting?

[djewesbury]

The Boot and Flogger would be far more convenient than Canary Wharf, which is far enough east as to be almost not worth my while.

[jdaw1]

Boot and Flogger

Links: streetmap.co.uk; maps.google.co.uk; bing.com.

Nice rooms. How is the lighting?

Private dining room:


Dining room:

[djewesbury]

That dining room looks lovely.

[benread]

I don't have the measurements, but the fact that table can seat two at each end bodes well!

[jdaw1]

I don't have the measurements, but the fact that table can seat two at each end bodes well!

The width of the chair I am sitting on is 48cm ≈ 18″.

That dining room looks lovely.

Ben: are you able to take charge and arrange a tasting?