Why the British Sunday lunch was the toast of Manhattan
Hadley Freeman in New York
Monday May 1, 2006
The Guardian
It was just going to be, the invitation promised "a British
Sunday lunch ... potatoes and York****re pudding", confirmed
a spokesperson. "Just a very traditional Sunday roast."
And so it was -- sort of. For a start, it was held in
a trendy Manhattan hotel, hosted by Christopher Bailey,
designer for Burberry, and cooked by Jamie Oliver.
But it was really the guestlist that elevated the event.
True, it was a very British group, but one from a very
particular side of British life: Sienna Miller, Anna Wintour,
Rupert Everett, Bryan Ferry, Alexandra Shulman, Emily Mortimer,
David Furnish, Manolo Blahnik, Nick Rhodes, Vivienne Westwood
and Matthew Williamson all turned up to eat seven hour cooked
brisket in the Manhattan sun****ne.
By the time Victoria Beckham arrived, all set for her roast
potatoes and boiled cabbage, memories of Sunday lunches of
chewing burnt spuds with granny in front of the Eastenders
omnibus vanished.
The menu was, as promised, very traditional, albeit described
in inimitable Jamie Oliver style: the roast beef was not
merely roast beef but "old school roast beef"; the jelly
with elderflower was "incredible."
"I met Christopher and he was such a nice boy so I said to him,
let's do a proper mum's-style Sunday lunch, but with tweaks,
y'know what I mean, darlin'?" Oliver explained.
Was he nervous about cooking for so many A-list people with
their wheat/dairy/calorie allergies? Oliver's face darkened
slightly. "I didn't adapt the menu at all, no.
"And I'm not very good with that celebrity stuff anyway.
I rely on Jools [his wife] to tell me who everyone is."
As Sienna Miller passed Bryan Ferry the roast potatoes, and
Victoria Beckham chatted happily with Christopher Bailey,
some of the non-British guests looked a little more
discomfited by this immersion in British life.
"York****re pudding? Now, I know that's not actually pudding,
right? I want to say it's something to do with suet -- am I
getting close?" shuddered David Duchovny. Another American
accent cried that they hadn't seen so much meat on their
plate "since the Carter years".
Victoria Beckham was more sanguine. Instead, she focused on
her after-lunch activities: "I'm really excited as I'll be
doing some vintage shopping downtown and will hopefully
pick up a couple of things for David," she smiled.
The Burberry lunch kicked off what is set to be three days
of a celebration of British style New York.
Today, the Anglomania exhibition is launched at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, showcasing the work of
British designers, including Westwood, Alexander McQueen,
Stella McCartney and Philip Treacy.
The opening party, or "ball" as it is insistently described,
has already been loudly proclaimed as "the party of the year"
for the past four months and, with Sarah Jessica Parker,
Victoria Beckham and Kate Moss promised to attend, it will
certainly at least be the paparazzi event of the year.
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