Lyndy Redding
What takes: 50,000 bottles of champagne, 12,000 quail’s eggs, 400 metres of sushi rolls, 1,000 associates of agents ...and 52,142 teaspoons?
Judith Woods meets Olympic affair caterer Lyndy Redding
Canapés? Check. Champagne? Check. Ice sculptures, absurd flowers, alien cocktails, all-embracing athletes, all-around VIPs, Hollywood royalty..?
Every hostess consistently adventures a few collywobbles in the countdown to an important party. Spare a anticipation afresh for London caterer Lyndy Redding, who will be throwing as abounding as 19 alluring parties a day over the beforehand of the Olympics. Where three or added celebrities are aggregate together, there will be Lyndy and her aggregation in the bosom of them, choreographing the array of night that alike the glitziest A-listers will never forget.
Lyndy’s upmarket business, Absolute Taste, which already runs a brasserie at Harvey Nichols, has clinched the coveted 2012 Olympics accommodation arrangement (together with ISS Aliment and Hospitality) for Westfield Stratford City, the advertise arcade centre adjoining to the capital armpit of the Games.
‘Anyone who’s anyone will be there; David and Samantha, Lord Coe, the Royal Family, all our badge winners,’ says Lyndy. ‘This is an amazing opportunity, and actuality amid bodies who are actually at the top of their bold is actually electrifying.’
Needless to say, Lyndy will be at the top of her bold too, applying all her ability to accomplishing the appropriate balance. ‘Beautiful bodies accomplish a party; they actualize a buzz, so bodies feel appropriate to be there,’ says Lyndy, who accomplished as a award bleu chef and formed for Formula 1 afore ambience up her own company, which still caters for the McLaren Mercedes aggregation at contest worldwide. ‘Famous bodies accept an ambience about them; as anon as Will Smith or Jim Carrey walks into a room, you can feel their attendance – actually, with Jim Carrey, you apprehend him continued afore you see him because he’s absurd off-screen as able-bodied as on, and his articulation carries actually far. My favourite brace would accept to be Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas; he’s so alert and breakable appear her, it gives you a absolute glow.’
If the brace do about-face up to abutment their corresponding countries’ teams, they will acquisition themselves in a ambience that couldn’t be added exclusive; the rooftop terraces about Westfield allow amazing angle of the stadium. Venues apprenticed into account accommodate the roof of John Lewis, the acme of car parks and the spaces aloft the White Company, Omega and Jamie’s Italian, the restaurant run by the TV chef.
Lyndy has a acceptability as the able hostess – her acquaintance Gordon Ramsay describes her as a ‘tenacious, vibrant, sexy’ woman who ‘gives him a adamantine time’ – and she has an absorbing agenda of high-profile audience including Aggregation GB, the Australian Olympic Committee, top appearance labels and abundant baddest companies to bond out the euro. Guests accessory contest in the Olympic Park will afresh go on to bless Aggregation GB’s medals at Lyndy’s parties. ‘We apprehend to be bustling an abominable lot of champagne, because we are alive with so abounding audience – about every badge for every civic aggregation will be a account for celebration,’ she says.
In an abnormally circuitous operation, the 42-year-old mother-of-one will be co-ordinating a aggregation of 120 chefs and 1,000 front-of-house agents as they assignment annular the alarm to accommodate assorted menus. The overarching abstraction will be British with a aberration – craven goujons with a accession dip, mini yorkshire puddings with attenuate broiled Scottish beef and adhesive toffee puddings with caramel dip. Alike adviser dogs will be catered for, with a card including afresh braised chip with biscuits (a favourite with Lyndy’s own dog Truffle, a amber cocker spaniel).
‘It’s important to accommodate lots of appetizing things to eat back bodies are drinking, as a bashed affair is not necessarily the best affair – bodies appetite to accept fun, but they additionally appetite to bethink who they met and the conversations they had.’ Lyndy describes the interiors of the Olympic parties as glassy and corporate, proving a aloof accomplishments to the high-octane excitement. ‘I would adulation to accessible a canteen of aerated for Tom Daley, the diver; I accept consistently followed his career and I accept a acceptable activity about him this summer,’ says Lyndy. ‘My abstruse affection is gymnastics, so I will be acclaim for Beth Tweddle to accomplish success. I did administer for tickets, but I’m actually adequate I didn’t get any, because there’s no way I would accept begin the time to see annihilation live!’
British diver Thomas Daley
As far as agriculture athirst athletes is concerned, Lyndy has a accurate clue almanac amid aristocratic drivers including Formula 1’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, whose calorie burning is carefully monitored, so pasta and salads will be provided for the crème de la crème of the antic world. Says Lyndy, ‘I accept accepted Lewis back he was 11 and I feel advantaged to accept watched him become one of the greatest drivers of all time, and apple best to boot. He’s additionally a abundant DJ and he’ll consistently be on the decks at some point during a party.’
‘I would adulation to accessible a canteen of aerated for Tom Daley, the diver'
Lyndy, whose bedmate David is the McLaren aggregation manager, will be blockage in a auberge abreast the Amateur armpit for the continuance of the Olympics, while he takes affliction of their two-year-old son Josh. ‘I accept no abstraction how things will assignment out in agreement of seeing my little boy, who I actually adore. Things will be so animated actuality that I may accept to allocution to Josh via Skype! But we accept a abundant assistant and he’ll be absolutely blessed blind out with his dad. The Olympics is such an amazing, different break that we knew it was activity to be absolutely full-on.’
Lyndy’s accouterment triumphs accommodate the Beckhams’s 2006 Apple Cup adieu affair (and yes, the card included edamame beans and broiled angle for Mrs B). Says Lyndy, ‘David was a absolute gentleman, actual beholden of the chefs, and Victoria has a absolutely communicable faculty of fun.’
Cooking alongside Ramsay for Nelson Mandela’s 90th altogether back-bite was addition highlight, although she admits, with a smile, that it was such a starry occasion, featuring the abundant and the acceptable from beyond the globe, that the baroque aliment was rather overlooked. ‘A-listers aren’t any added ambitious than anyone else, but the bodies about them are ambitious on their behalf,’ says Lyndy. ‘To be honest, acclaimed bodies ask to accommodated the chefs and acknowledge them alone far added generally than accustomed clients. Back I catered for an accident at which the Queen was present, she insisted on visiting the kitchen.’
Lyndy’s acceptability is such that Gordon Ramsay asked her to babyish for his own 40th altogether affair at London’s Banqueting House; yet Lyndy began her aggregation from absolutely common roots, operating from a one-bedroom collapsed and ferrying about aliment in a aged old acreage car. ‘I had a little aperture at Chelsea Harbour and I would do accouterment for designers, who afresh recommended me to clients. But although the parties were awfully glamorous, all the deliveries acclimated to be fabricated to my home, and I would accept hawkeye nights apprehensive whether the beam was activity to collapse beneath the weight of the drinks pallets,’ she says.
Fast advanced to London 2012, and as of aboriginal June, there has been a aegis lockdown of the Westfield site, which agency deliveries can alone booty abode amid 1am and 6am. To add to the complications, an estimated 70 per cent of Olympic admission holders will airing through the capital en avenue to the games, which may be acceptable account for retailers, but represents a logistical daydream for Lyndy – or would do, were she not so organised.
‘The accessible will be application the routes we allegation to ability the kitchens and the venues. There’s a bewilderment of underground tunnels, and there are lifts, but the assignment of analogous the agents to go to the appropriate place, at the appropriate time, on the appropriate day, cutting the appropriate compatible requires a huge bulk of planning. We will additionally accept colour-coded pathways to beforehand guests in the administration of their accurate party.’ It sounds like a compound for, if not disaster, afresh absurd confusion, but Lyndy, like aggregation GB, is focused on success, and that agency bathrobe the part.
‘I apperceive from acquaintance that comfortable shoes are crucial,’ she says, casual bottomward at her Hugo Boss dress and LK Bennett heels, ‘so I will abrasion a trouser clothing that hides a brace of trainers, so I can stride off from affair to party, fetching and accustomed things and authoritative abiding aggregate is activity according to plan.’
Lyndy is unfazed by celebrities, although if they are guests at one of her parties, she does affront – like every acceptable hostess – about their well-being. ‘Lenny Kravitz came to the Australian Grand Prix and he looked absolutely hot.’ Yes, Lyndy, he is absolutely hot. ‘No, I beggarly hot, as in he was cutting a bristling hat and covering anorak and the temperature was soaring.’
Such affecting affair isn’t a one-off. Back Brad Pitt and George Clooney angry up at the Monaco Grand Prix to beforehand a film, Lyndy was beneath absent with their matinée-idol looks than whether or not they’d had lunch. ‘Celebrities allegation consistently be starving,’ she concludes. ‘They access in a car, get ushered into an event, alien to a few bodies afresh ushered out afresh without endlessly to eat.’ Persuading the aristocracy to abeyance and aftertaste the parmesan-crusted haddock will be Lyndy’s claiming this Olympics – and, on accepted form, it looks like she’s activity for gold.
For added advice about Lyndy, appointment absolutetaste.com
Lyndy’s tips for an Olympic affair at Home:
Be British! Lots of banderole and red, white and blue; anticipate airy garden affair rather than academic dining
Cupcakes galore! Easy to accomplish in beforehand and you can adorn some in the civic colours of any adopted guests
boards of sausage rolls, pork pies, babyish carrots and blooming tomatoes to abrade on and a big angle pie for later
Stock up on Pimm’s and ad-lib some fun affair (alcoholic and soft) and name them afterwards contest demography abode on the day of the party, such as High Dive or Continued Jump
If there’s a above final demography place, allegation your glasses and accumulate annular the television to acclamation — but switch it off afterwards
Do best of your alertness in beforehand so you can relax and adore your own party
