Earlier today I had the pleasure of enjoying afternoon tea in the light filled Winter Garden of five star hotel, The Landmark London. I reckon it’s one of London’s most elegant spaces to book an afternoon tea service, and proved to be an excellent setting for me to get through an initially awkward start and have a great conversation.
Hosted by Ladbrokes Bingo, the tea was in celebration of the kick off of that most classic of British sporting traditions – Wimbledon – with pastries and desserts at the end of the service themed around tennis and the joys of the English summertime. Pimms jelly anyone?
In retrospect, I maybe should have done a more thorough job reading my invitation though, as one of the big draws of the tea was the chance to meet “our very special Ladbrokes Buff Ball Boys.” Eh?
Even girlier than a typical afternoon tea, I was one of only two fellas (well, minus the “ball boys”) in attendance amid a sea women … and a troupe of model-y ball boys. I’m pretty sure the other male writer there hadn’t been fully aware of what he was heading to either. Hilarious.
Still, there wasn’t anything especially cheeky about the tea – and certainly not any “Magic Mike” moments. In fact, the “boy” I found myself sitting next to turned out to be actor/filmmaker Chris Vlassis, who explained to me he had been one of Tom Hardy’s body doubles in Mad Max: Fury Road. How cool is that? So, yeah, I totally geeked out talking with him about the film. Fury Road was one of the best movies I’ve seen in ages and it was a lot of fun getting to hear Chris share his experiences working on it.
The Landmark London is located at 222 Marylebone Road, NW1 6JQ. Find out more at landmarklondon.co.uk.
