You stay classy, San Diego
Elise, Matthew and I went out for dinner last night. No reason in particular but after a hectic summer, I thought it would be nice to meet up outside the ‘office’ and combine this with a visit to somewhere we all wanted to visit that also seems to have taken over Instagram. We went to Simpsons in the Strand – aka Simpsons Grand Divan.
First memories
As a child Simpson’s was the first grown-up London restaurant my parents had taken me to. Before then the highlight of my dining out experience centred on Beefeater prawn cocktails and Aberdeen Angus rump steaks with chips – although damn good they were too.
The trolley I’ve never forgotten
We all have a few eating out memories indelibly printed in our minds. All those years ago it was the sight of these silver domed trolleys being pushed silently around the dining room by a small gaggle of chefs, dressed head to toe in white with large floppy white hats on the heads (‘toques’).
Like buses on the King’s Road, flowing round the dining room, stacking up occasionally, and then randomly stopping by an expectant table for the big reveal. I’d literally never seen a piece of beef that big before – it was magical.
The question we asked each other over dessert
As we began to let the Simpsons Grand Divan experience envelop us it seemed like a good time to ask both Matthew and Elise for their standout eating out memory …
It was telling that all three of us remembered the EXPERIENCE and not so much the food or drink consumed, even though Matthew’s did involve an especially famous Michelin starred establishment in France that his father had taken him to when he was only 18 (au naturel!)
The world is changing
It increasingly feels to me that hospitality is changing and the degree of happiness we feel is more linked to the experience than the food and drink we consume.
Some will say it has always been this way but many restaurants have up until now got away with just delivering average.
Why Average is the most dangerous word in hospitality right now
Fortunately for the great British public average won’t cut it any more, it’s only places that deliver truly standout experiences that will prosper and attract customers to their door again and again.
With the ever-escalating cost of ingredients, staff, rates and energy restaurant owners are having to navigate, going out has become increasingly a special occasion and any owner not appreciating this does so at their peril.
Going to Simpsons felt like a special occasion and was an enlightening experience. Messrs King and Holland are masters of putting on a show and as you walk into the lobby it feels very much like you about to be taken on a memorable journey. You are. I would recommend everyone to go – Simpsons.
The adjective that sums it all up
As a friend who recently visited stated, it’s just simply ‘classy’ and as I was walking out I thought this was the perfect adjective to describe the evening.
When I think about the Gallivant and Harry’s through this prism, Ron Burgundy’s line from Anchorman, one of our family’s favourite movies springs to mind ‘you stay classy, San Diego’.
‘Staying classy, Gallivant’ seems like the perfect way for us all to focus on what matters – it’s way bigger than what’s on your plate. It all about the experience.
Harry
———-
If you’d like to make contact you can here
harry@maingalli.wonderwebsite.co.uk