chandco, Author at Tonic

Christmas events and festivities

Posted on: January 5th, 2017 by chandco

Christmas was a busy period for the Tonic team with events galore and presents to be wrapped.
A dinner at Cutty Sark for 300 guests of property management company, Greystar, went swimmingly. Our three-course Christmas menu was washed down with glasses of whisky and port before a dance around the piano, shipped in from London’s famous Piano Works.

Another of our December events saw St Paul’s Cathedral host Equiniti, a technology investment company. 150 guests dined on a selection of our finest canapes including scallop ceviche, peppered sirloin steak and baby chips, marinated tiger prawns and mini chocolate eclairs with a pistachio crumb.

As well as all this hard work we found a bit of time to squeeze in some celebration (involving superlative food and drink of course!). At the end of a hectic day, we opened a bottle of Champagne to toast the year’s success before heading to José Pizarro’s tapas restaurant on Bermondsey Street. We just about managed to sample most things on the menu, which featured jamón croquetas, garlic prawns, grilled baby gems, jamón Ibérico and beautifully salted padrón peppers, all washed down with a glass (or two) of sherry.

The following day we decided to take an early morning trip to New Covent Garden Flower Market to scout out the best of London’s florists for some prop and flower arrangement inspiration. We also popped into The Conran Shop, Divertimenti and Rob van Helden prop hire to check out new trends in furniture.

Alastair Moir joins Tonic

Posted on: November 25th, 2016 by chandco

Tonic welcomes new Director, Alastair Moir

Earlier this month we welcomed Alastair Moir as the new Director of team Tonic. With decades of experience in events catering, we are delighted to have Alastair on board to helm our initiatives as 2016’s Event Caterer of the Year.
He has spent the last few weeks getting stuck in to all things Tonic, meeting the team and getting his first taste of a few Tonic events at the likes of St Paul’s Cathedral, Abbey Road Studios, Cutty Sark and the Osborne Gallery.

We asked him what he thinks of his time with us so far…
“Incredible! What a fantastic company to be a part of. There is a great sense of momentum with the accolade of Event Caterer of the Year under our belts and a burning desire to deliver something new, innovative and different to the current offerings in the ODC/Special Events marketplace. I’m thrilled to be joining at the beginning of the journey for this carefully crafted new brand and am excited about what we can achieve in our first year as Tonic. Watch this space!”

Check out our Instagram feed for a better look into life at Tonic and what Alastair’s getting up to.

Tonic wins Caterer of the Year 2016 at the Events Awards

Posted on: October 17th, 2016 by chandco

Welcome to Tonic. Creative, conceptual and committed. Your home for experiential events catering.

This is the brand new look of Harbour & Jones Events. We may have a shiny new face but we are still bringing you sumptuous, imaginative menus, transforming everyday events into remarkable culinary experiences that captivate our clients and guests.

Our team of skilled chefs and talented events professionals bring spice and surprise to glittering product launches, high-profile fundraisers, gala dinners and much more, in some of the most iconic event venues the capital has to offer.

We are delighted to announce that last week we were awarded Caterer of the Year 2016 at the Event Awards!

Following the written entry submission, we competed against three other finalists in a head to head tasting round held at Borough Market. A panel of five top industry judges critiqued service, creativity, concept and flavour – not only tasting but interviewing the team on our experience and presentation.

The awards ceremony was held at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, hosted by comedian Katherine Ryan. We dined on short rib of beef with aligot potatoes and deconstructed trifle. Following the announcement, Champagne was had by all before heading to the dance floor to celebrate.

Our win ties in nicely with the launch of our rebrand earlier last week, during which we unveiled a new name, logo and complete appearance. After 12 years in business, we thought it was time to spice things up with a fresh new look. And now it’s here, we’ve got our sights set on even greater things. So stay tuned… We hope you like what we have to offer.

Tonic reach finalist status

Posted on: August 1st, 2016 by chandco

Two years ago we were awarded the coveted Caterer of the Year title at Event magazine’s annual awards ceremony. This year, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve been shortlisted again as an Event Awards finalist for Caterer of the Year 2016.

We won the 2014 award following a hard battle involving a written submission and a heated cook off and presentation. A panel of industry-recognised judges including Event magazine personnel devoured our creative menu during the tasting stage at famed Borough Market.

We’re excited to be entered into the finalist draw once again and are eager to show the judges what we’ve been up to recently. This year the tasting stage will take place on 7th September, returning to the same venue, and preparations are already underway at Harbour & Jones Events HQ for what promises to be a tough competition.

Congratulations to all of our team for getting so far and fingers crossed.

Introducing our Pudding Wall

Posted on: June 30th, 2016 by chandco

We unveiled our new pudding wall concept at ‘Eat the Rainbow’ showcase at 41 Portland Place

On Wednesday 22^nd June 2016, we held a showcase dinner at 41 Portland Place to unveil a new event food concept. Forty of some of our industry’s most prestigious events professionals arrived at the central London Grade II listed townhouse to feast on a rainbow-inspired menu cooked by our talented chefs and discover a much anticipated surprise for pudding…

We began the evening on the outdoor terrace with canapés of crab disguised as mini apples, chicken liver parfait in the form of baby oranges and creamy mozzarella made to look like cherry tomatoes, washed down with peach bellinis and rosewater and pomegranate martinis.

Guests were then led to the dining room, serenaded by a DJ and saxophone fusion playing contemporary house music, and seated at long tables adorned with flowers in all shades of the rainbow. An amuse bouche of bright orange carrot and coriander gazpacho served in a shot glass was followed by a yellow starter of roasted yellow pepper, endive, pickled yellow carrots, burrata, and yellow pepper jus. The main was purple themed, featuring slow cooked cannon and shoulder of lamb, beetroot puree, roasted baby beets, purple potato cubes and crispy purple kale.

Having eaten their way through the rainbow course by course, guests moved through to the John Newsom-Davis Council Chamber for the grand finale – a 2 by 2.5 metre edible pudding wall. A colourful structure with integrated Perspex shelves adorned with scores of homemade rainbow-coloured cakes and puddings which guests could dress with fruit coulis and butterscotch sauce dispensed from four taps. Treats included blueberry cheesecake slices, raspberry macarons, lemon posset, iced pistachio sponge and lemon drizzle squares.

We were delighted to see so much enthusiasm from guests towards our innovative creation. It was a great opportunity to show how we are forward-thinking and always trying to push the boundaries of event food.

Celebrating summer with Royal Museums Greenwich

Posted on: May 13th, 2016 by chandco

With summer right around the corner we’re getting in the mood to celebrate and where better to do it than on the bank of the River Thames at the Royal Museums Greenwich venues.

We’ve put together some summer packages to whet your appetite, including offers for events at the world’s last surviving tea clipper, Cutty Sark. Enjoy a cold glass of fizz with some fine food as you soak up the sun on the ship’s deck. What better way to bring in the summer months…

Check out our packages here.

We’ve also included some Christmas offers…don’t be shy, it’s never too soon to plan ahead.

Harbour & Jones Events celebrates the life of chef Sam Sommerville

Posted on: March 3rd, 2016 by chandco

On Monday 29th February 2016, Harbour & Jones Events held a fundraising dinner for the family of chef Sam Sommerville. Sam worked at H&J from May 2014 until his sad death in an accident whilst on holiday in August last year. During his time with H&J he taught his colleagues and peers around him to really love life.

One hundred and sixty guests attended our dinner at The Royal Institute of British Architects to help raise money to support Sam’s children Eva and Charlie over the coming years. Tables were decorated with hula girls, leis, rubber ducks and plastic chickens and a blow up palm tree accompanied guests at the bar. The menu was made up of the H&J awards finalist dishes, the main course being Sam’s own buttermilk chicken and cauliflower, which he named ‘The bird & white curd’.

A cabaret performance by alumni from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art played Sam’s favourite songs by the Arctic Monkeys and Oasis, whilst a fundraising auction saw guests purchase lots including dinner for eight at home cooked by H&J chefs and a Mercedes Formula 1 cap signed by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

We were delighted to have the auction further supported by renowned chefs Ollie Dabbous and Jeff Galvin who generously donated lots, including signed cookbooks and tasting menus, with matched wines, at their establishments Dabbous and Galvin La Chapelle. H&J also received huge support from their suppliers with prizes and sponsorship. A special thanks goes to Jascots Wine Merchants whose Ben Scott performed auctioneer duties.

The dinner surpassed our original fundraising target, raising just over £18,000 in total. This money will help support Eva and Charlie during the coming years and the family are hugely appreciative of the effort made towards this.

We would like to thank everyone who attended the dinner and supported this cause.

Good news for Harbour & Jones

Posted on: December 17th, 2015 by chandco

Harbour & Jones acquires Principals Catering Consultants

We would like to share with you the exciting news that the Harbour & Jones family is expanding.

On 15th December 2015 we acquired Principals Catering Consultants Ltd, which trades in both the events and business and industry fields as Fare of London, a prestigious contract catering and venue management business, and Principals Catering, a prominent education caterer.

This exciting initiative forms a part of our next five-year strategy and will allow us to remain both independent and a leader in our field. Harbour & Jones, Harbour & Jones Events and H&J Upfront, along with Fare and Principals, will all continue to trade in each respective market and as separate and distinct brands. Each company is an expert in its field and it would be foolhardy to change what we believe is already a winning approach.

Fare of London and Principals Catering were founded over 25 years ago and are well-established companies, run by respected managers and operators, who we know will add a great deal to our portfolio and experience.

There is also a personal connection with PCC. In his early career Nathan Jones worked for the owner, John Durden, at Principals Catering and later, Fare of London. As John was looking to plan his retirement he wanted to hand on his company to people he knew and trusted, so this agreement seemed the next logical step for both Durden and Harbour & Jones, and an opportunity not to be missed.

“We may be bigger but our values will stay the same: our pursuit of innovation and creativity; our commitment to good nourishing food; our focus on quality and service and our verve.” Patrick Harbour

We have made a video that explains more about our acquisition. You can view this at www.greatcombination.co.uk.

Chapter House: New Event Venue

Posted on: September 18th, 2015 by chandco

Renowned as a venue for prestigious events, St Paul’s Cathedral has added yet another jewel to its crown.

Designed and built in 1715 by the Cathedral’s acclaimed Sir Christopher Wren and his son, Chapter House is a significant landmark in London’s portfolio of architectural elegance. This year, following an extensive restoration project, St Paul’s Cathedral is proud to open the doors of Chapter House to event bookers for the first time in history.

With views overlooking the north side of the Cathedral and its iconic dome, the new event venue includes two intimate and ornately decorated rooms, perfect for fine dining (for up to 24 people) and elegant receptions (for up to 70).

Dîner en blanc hits London

Posted on: August 20th, 2015 by chandco

Imagine a picnic in a secret location with thousands of diners dressed in white, seated at white clothed tables, surrounded by friends old and new. A mass flourish of white napkins signals the start of the feast and then as night falls, sparklers twinkle in the darkening skies as the music and dancing start.

Dreamt up in Paris over 27 years ago, Le Dîner en Blanc has grown from a handful of friends to a worldwide phenomenon, with thousands attending events in cities as diverse as Kilgali and Tokyo.

As appointed caterer for this year’s event, to be held on Thursday September 3^rd, Harbour & Jones Events is preparing gourmet picnics to delight the diners. Our Italian Feast, British Picnic and Vegetarian Feast hampers are packed with homemade treats from our Events Kitchen and are selling fast. If you are lucky enough to have a ticket for this chicest of picnics, don’t forget to order yours soon.

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