The Laundry Restaurant in Brixton, which we know well, was the venue for the retirement party for the co-organizer of the Central London Wine Society. The restaurant had a large enough area for our group of up to 30.
Choice of Dining Areas
The restaurant has three dining areas, a large front patio, open air but sheltered. A smaller ground floor area indoors has the bar area, bar stools and a secluded area with a couple of tables, plus a large downstairs area with three long tables which suited our group of about 28 diners.
Menu Choices
We had the set menu, of three sharing starters, platters of about six portions of a) autumn salad, meatballs, and a tomato puree. The choice of main course included duck confit, which is leg of duck, which most people chose. A couple of people took the alternative trout, and one had the vegan option of pumpkin and chickpea.
The duck came with ample lentils. We had also ordered an extra side of fries - fried potatoes, known in the UK as chips, short for potato chips (while in the USA chips means what the British call crisps).
Dessert was delicious, a triple chocolate brownie, a small solid cake a big like a cross between cake and fudge, with pieces of whole chocolate inside.
Free Corkage
Tuesday is no corkage day which is why we had chosen a Tuesday. The club supplied bottles of booze, and one or two people donated bottles, and we had one giant magnum. We brought extra glasses and corkscrews. On other days the restaurant charge £25 per bottle, so quite a saving for a group like ours. But if you are teetotallers, all days of the week would be equally suitable for you.
Organizing
As you can imagine, the whole event took many hours of organizing on our part. Start with selecting a restaurant, the room, the layout of the tables, so speeches could be heard, even without any table plan for who should sit where. In the end we had the guest of honour at the end of one table so he could be seen by most of the people at the other table.
Buying and Signing A Card
I had waited upstairs to get all the guests to secretly sign a large card (after a previous day check by two people of five card shops in different parts of London to find a large thank you card).
Upstairs I was able to direct everybody downstairs. One of the waiters was able to direct my group members towards me, whilst other diners were offered tables outside or on the ground floor.
As I was upstairs, I risked missing out on the opening of the starter Champagne or sparkling wine. At my request, one person brought the glass of the Champagne starter drink upstairs to me whilst I waited for the latecomers.
Location and Latecomers
We had sent a map of the venue location. One person waited in a cafe for somebody who was late and they could not communicate by phone.
ToiletsThe toiletd are in the basement. A staircase with turns maked going foxbn ezdier and safer.
Parking
Some paid for car parks are nearby. You are liable to get a parking ticket even in streets by buildings on on a private estate midweek lunch time, although Saturday evening is free, unless your friend you are visiting or collecting from nearby flats has resident parking coupons which you remember to ask for and which they can find quickly to give you,
Useful Websites
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