We are always searching for original ideas to turn an ordinary experience into an exceptional one and last Friday BI held the best lunch I have been to all year – at Huntsman on Savile Row.
I will never forget getting behind the wheel of an Aston DB5 (my wife’s) or pulling on my first Huntsman suit. The whole experience is surreal: you walk into the Huntsman shop on Savile Row and discuss fabrics in a leisurely fashion with your cutter, who then measures Sir. A few fittings later, you pull on your first bespoke suit. You have never felt so good. You, sir, have arrived.
In fact an old colleague of mine told the story of how, when I walked into the office in my first Huntsman suit over 20 years ago, everyone asked if I had lost weight – unsurprisingly I made an appointment to have another made the very next day.
As you can tell I am a big, big fan. So is my good friend Pierre who loved Huntsman so much he bought it.
We managed to transform the Huntsman shop into the coolest lunch venue imaginable for some great friends who support BI. Cooking, as always, was Michelin Star quality. The wines, Leoville Las Cases 96 and 85, were magnificent as were the Krug magnums and Fonseca 77. As an aside, I am going through a “God, I love Port" stage – if you haven’t already, just buy some. Everything was nigh-on perfect: the table, the setting and the crowd. If the wine business falls away I will apply for employment selling suits in Savile Row, I am that big of a fan.
There is a fantastic story about David Brown from Aston Martin being asked by a friend if he could buy a DB5 at cost. He then received a bill much higher than the retail value. It is thus with bespoke suits. Along with Port, probably the best value in the world.
Go and buy a bespoke suit and transform your life. Even the firemen and fire engine which pitched up (something to do with our chef, Anthony, although he denies it completely) seemed impressed.
