{"id":1153,"date":"2010-06-06T11:02:24","date_gmt":"2010-06-06T10:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=1153"},"modified":"2010-06-06T11:13:35","modified_gmt":"2010-06-06T10:13:35","slug":"three-fascinating-species-of-gay-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=1153","title":{"rendered":"Three Fascinating Species of Gay Dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday 6th<\/sup> June 2010<\/p>\n

I\u2019m dashing for Lady Newell\u2019s at Oxford. We\u2019re having a Tuscan-reunion lunch.<\/p>\n

Here are three Gay dinners; I hope you can learn from them.<\/p>\n

Royston Buster\u2019s pre-Chelsea Flower Show gathering was two weeks ago. I\u2019ve mentioned it before. Table decor, glassware, napiery, location (actually London NW10) were not the point. No, the guests were poised, like show horses, trained but reserving the right to revert to the wild without notice, pawing the ground, trotting on the spot, manoeuvring. All on committees, the Corporation of London, the National Lottery Fund, the \u00a0this, the that. Exact purpose not entirely clear. Functions with speeches seemed to come into it. The opening of Leighton House. \u2018Mistake to leave so-and-so off the guest list.\u2019 \u2018Good move to put so-and-so on.\u2019 Heads of Oxbridge colleges picked over. Then someone called Ed Vaizey, an MP. What sort of terms on with the PM socially? Round for a pizza at the kitchen table \u2013 no. Summer party for 50 \u2013 yes.<\/p>\n

Royston, by the way, is remarkable. Absolutely barking and you can tell him so. Used to be on the TV a lot, now does Chelsea Flower Show only. Somehow in charge of millions of lottery money. Chair of the committee except that he had reduced the other members to little heaps of ash. Demented with names and connections.<\/p>\n

We must hear more of him.<\/p>\n

This Thursday last was my own dinner. Decor. Food. Garden. I was appalled by the state of my silver. Lord Arrowby, who came in the end, charmed everybody and provided content. Peter Acharya, who lives down the road, fumed about the new set of yobs who\u2019ve moved in. Bruce MacBain, my architect, was teased by Cedric Partridge ( museum world. Art history. Knew Margot Fonteyn. Flies often with famous painting as fellow passenger) for wearing a loose garment. What was he trying to conceal?<\/p>\n

Then last night Peter Acharya and Ned Czernowski had a last minute dinner for the hot weather. The thing was \u2013 and here you must learn \u2013 it wasn\u2019t in their own apartment but another, on the floor above, twice the size, double-terrace on both sides, and finished, finished, finished. Oh the finish. Great wall of lacquered cupboards in the kitchen, perfectly aligned, streaming stone floors.<\/p>\n

So, why not relocate your dinners to improved premises?<\/p>\n

Speaking of kitchens (see glossary), the other great feature was a lithe young man from the South Seas, big studded belt, red-top pants showing, jeans, tattoos, jewellery, \u00a0tremendous hiss-and-spit with older partner. \u2018You\u2019ve been working today?\u2019 I said. Yes, I\u2019m manager of the environment…. \u2018He\u2019s a cleaner,\u2019 the husband boomed. Later they were more cuddly apparently. \u2018He wants a car,\u2019 Peter muttered. After dinner we toured the apartment and this young man became even more lithe and charming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday 6th June 2010 I\u2019m dashing for Lady Newell\u2019s at Oxford. We\u2019re having a Tuscan-reunion lunch. Here are three Gay dinners; I hope you can learn from them. Royston Buster\u2019s pre-Chelsea Flower Show gathering was two weeks ago. I\u2019ve mentioned it before. Table decor, glassware, napiery, location (actually London NW10) were not the point. No, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adrain-edge"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1153"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1155,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153\/revisions\/1155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}