Overheard at the Guinness and Oyster lunch: City grandee gets Tory MP to cook for dinner party guests
They say that Guinness is good for you, and that shellfish is an excellent source of low-fat protein, so while New York’s brokers had a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday and tucked into turkey with all the trimmings, London’s financial veterans had a super-healthy celebration of their own at the 50th annual Guinness and Oyster lunch.
Brokers, bankers and analysts from at least three generations congregated at the Mansion House to slurp on the finest seafood from the Essex coast and bid on some priceless lots in a silent auction, all in aid of disability charity the Queen Elizabeth Foundation.
The Capitalist waxed lyrical with Winterflood Securities president Brian Winterflood and wife Doreen, who since attending so many charity lunches and dinners this year have gotten a taste for fine dining.
“Many of the prizes are things like having a chef round to cater for a dinner party. Nowadays that’s the only way to have one”, Mrs Winterflood mused. Naturally.
One of their most recent chefs for such soirees, however, was none other that Conservative MP for Wimbledon Stephen Hammond.
According to the Winterfloods (and Hammond’s spokespeople), the backbencher and Inmarsat adviser was advertising his services back in spring as part of his own election campaign. “He seems to really love cooking for things like that” Doreen added. Well, it’s one way to win over the voters.
However, Hammond’s press team hastened to add that his love of putting on a good spread wasn’t all about political point-scoring. The MP-cum-City worker regularly offers his services as an in-house chef at charity auctions and events. In fact, Mr Hammond is probably already prepping for his next party, as a spokesperson confirmed he’s cooking for one of his constituents on Friday.