Tag: Daniel Scordel

Rather A Lot Of Dinners, Parties & Dinner Parties Over The Summer Months Of 1995

Ossobuco – picture by Stu Spivack via Wikipedia Commons

It was that sort of era, really, the 1990s. Dinner parties and small gatherings.

Listing The Events

  • 24 June – “Tessa’s party” – Tessa played bridge with me, Andrea and Maz. She lived in Acton;
  • 1 July – “Duchess Japanese meal” – that would have been at Momos on Queen’s Parade. Janie and I often ate there in those days, quite often making it a Friday evening treat after work. It was a superb, authentic Japanese place, run by Mr Asari. We still miss it. We decided to treat the Duchess to the place for her birthday that year;
  • 15 July – “Kim & Micky [for] dinner” – at theirs I think. Janie and I went to the Canal Cafe to see NewsRevue the next day.
  • 29 July – “John & Jolli” – that will have been John Thompson and his partner Jolita. I think they came to Sandall Close for a meal.
  • 5 August – “Bernie, Heather & Dave” – these are people we met in China in 1993. We owed Heather & Dave hospitality as we had been to a party up their way (Bedfordshire/Northamptonshire). Bernie was a laugh.
  • 26 August – “Dinner with Anthea”
  • 27 August – “North China restaurant” with Andrea and others?

The menu is absent from Janie’s diary for the above events, but absent for:

An Ossobuco Evening With Daniel, Julie, Michael, Elisabeth, Kim & Micky, 3 September 1995

Daniel had migrated to Australia and paired up with (perhaps already married) Julie. This was their first visit to the UK together. Janie cooked a wonderful Ossobuco meal for all of us that evening.

Special in so many ways as a dish, this was also her signature dish from the first time Janie ever had me over for dinner, so it seemed appropriate:

Ossobuco At Janie’s Place, 16 August 1992

A very special evening, that one.

More Listings As We Move Into Autumn

  • 10 September – “John & Mandy” – possibly our first visit to their place in Wanstead, as I wrote down directions;
  • 14 October “Kim, Micky, Phillie & Tony” – dinner at Sandall Close
  • 15 October “Michael & Elisabeth” – dinner at their place
  • 4 November “Murray Elliot lunch” – Ros’s dad. We were off to see Ros in Turkey a few days later.

Dinner At Mine With Daniel And Others, 18 Or 19 June 1993

My diary says this dinner at mine was on 19th, Janie’s says 18th.

For sure I took the day off work Friday 18th, but that might have been as much to do with the NewsRevue Smoker the evening before than anything to do with the dinner party.

Janie has written a recipe for some healthy fish salad where Saturday 19th should be in her diary, but I am sure that has nothing to do with my dinner party.

Perhaps she served such healthy, salady stuff later in the weekend to neutralise the ill effects of my lavish meal on the Friday…or was it the Saturday…night.

My diary is suitably vague as to the guests:

Dan+

Dan will be Daniel Scordel. I’m not sure whetehr Daniel and Maz were still an item then – perhaps not given the term “Dan+”.

No idea who else might have been there. Andrea possibly. No more than five or maximum six at my place for a meal.

I’m sure it was a good one.

A Weekend Without Janie By The Looks Of It, 6 to 8 November 1992

My diary shows me playing bridge with Daniel & Marianne on the Friday evening (probably also with Andrea).

Then it shows spending the day on Saturday with Michael Mainelli writing “Zen Things You Wanted To Know About Business”…which was the working title of the subsequent hit book Clean Business Cuisine...

…what do you mean, haven’t read it?

It’s as topical now as it was when it was written…

…it’s set c500 b.c.e. for goodness sake…

...read all about it here…

…or better still, buy it here.

Anyway, it looks as though Janie worked all day on the Saturday and there is no sign in the diaries of us seeing each other on the Sunday. There are some electronic signs of me working on my canon of NewsRevue material ahead of the Christmas run, that Sunday.

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) by Jess Borgeson, Adam Long, Daniel Singer, Reed Martin, Reduced Shakespeare Company, Arts Theatre, 5 August 1992

I went to see this show with Andrea, Maz and Daniel – normally the “three musketeers” of our bridge four.

Not sure whose idea it was to see this show…but I’ll guess that Maz was the ringleader for the trip.

I don’t remember much about it, but the diary says we met at 6:30 so I guess we had a drink before the show and a quick meal afterwards. I’m guessing The Mayflower Chinese, as I have a hint of a memory of dining with those three at that place, but I could be wrong.

Andrea or Maz might remember. Even Daniel might. I’d love to learn of any lingering memories from that evening.

My log simply says “fun”, which I recall it was. A rather silly show, of course, but that’s the idea of it.

Three days later, I met Janie. But that’s another story completely (unabridged).

The Reduced Shakespeare Company has its own website still, would you believe – here is the link.

There is also a Wikipedia entry for this great work – click here.

There is even a YouTube recording of the show – see below:

I can’t find formal reviews of this production but here is an interesting interview with the Reduced Shakeseare lot:

Veronica Lee With The RSCVeronica Lee With The RSC Mon, Mar 6, 2000 – 53 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Playing With Trains by Stephen Poliakoff, The Pit, 11 November 1989

I remember this play, production and indeed the whole evening very well.

I had long been a fan of Poliakoff’s plays when I went to see this one, having read a great many of his plays and seen a few of the filmed versions of his works, but this was I think only the second time I’d got to see one of his plays on the stage.

My log says:

Very good. We sat next to Poliakoff himself and went on to Daniel [Scordel]’s party afterwards.

“We”, in this instance, was me and Annalisa de Mercur. The evening we attended was a preview – I think possibly even the first or one of the first previews.

I recall us getting to The Pit a little late and struggling to see any available pairs of seats once we got in. Annalisa made a bee-line for some empty seats that were clearly marked “reserved” with Stephen Poliakoff himself sitting next to those reservations.

“You can’t sit there”, I said to Annalisa, “they’re reserved”.

“It’s OK, you can sit there”, said Stephen Poliakoff.

“Are you sure it’s OK?” I said to him.

“Yes, they won’t all be needed”, he said.

“Are you something to do with the production?”, asked Annalisa, in the sort of questioning tone that only she might use in such circumstances.

“Stephen’s the playwright”, I said to her, “so I think he knows what he’s talking about”.

“Thank you”, I said to Stephen.

“That’s all right”, said Stephen. Then he said, “I wish they wouldn’t put my picture on the programme. I don’t like being recognised”.

“I’d have recognised you anyway”, I said.

Stephen Poliakoff half-smiled at me.

I really liked this play and the production. It is not Poliakoff’s finest, but it was a very interesting play, covering (as Poliakoff often does) societal issues and family issues in one fell swoop.

Superb cast, including my first live look at several truly excellent stage folk: Michael Pennington, Simon Russell Beale, Lesley Sharpe and Ralph Fiennes to name but four.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Here’s Michael Billington’s Guardian take on it:

Billington on TrainsBillington on Trains Fri, Dec 1, 1989 – 36 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Kate Kellaway’s take in The Observer:

Kellaway on TrainsKellaway on Trains Sun, Dec 3, 1989 – 43 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Annalisa was not as keen on this piece as I was. To be honest, she wasn’t very interested in theatre, but tended to come along to stuff I’d booked with Bobbie in mind if/when Bobbie wasn’t available.

I think it might have been during the interval of this one, in reference to a family row during the piece, that Annalisa commented, “I don’t much like this sort of drama – I can get all this at home.

It reminded me of one of my favourite Peter Cook quotes:

I go to the theatre to be entertained… I don’t want to see plays about rape, sodomy and drug addiction… I can get all that at home.

Playing With Trains did not have rape, sodomy or drug addiction as far as I recall. I do also remember suggesting that Annalisa keep her opinions to herself until we were clear of The Pit given that it was a preview night and it wasn’t the cast and crew’s fault that I had taken a guest who was not so keen on theatre.

We legged it across town to Daniel Scordel’s pad on Trinity Road, where the party was in full swing once we got there. I think Daniel was going out with Maz (Marianne Tudor Craig) by then, but I think that relationship was still quite new. I don’t remember much about the party other than it being rather a good one.

I do specifically remember Daniel’s kid sister, who was I think 17 or 18 at that time, grooving to a particular dance tune that I liked but did not recognise, so I asked her, after the record finished, what it was.

“You haven’t heard of it?” she said, “but it’s been in the charts for weeks. You’re sad”.

I’m pretty sure it was Ride On Time by Black Box

Like Daniel, I was just 27 at that time. It was the very first time I remember feeling old.