A Day in the Life of Red Anywhere… Rokeby Masque Ball 27th February 2010

05/03/10 in General by Laura Ward | 0 Comment

A Day in the Life of Red Anywhere… Rokeby Masque Ball 27th February 2010
220 Masked Guests, 4 Bespoke Dishes, 3 Kitchens, a Fantastic Team of Staff and one very long shift! Last Saturday saw in Red’s first large event of the year… The Bi-Annual Charity Ball held at Rokeby School in Kingston. This week I thought I would tell you a little bit about what an event day is like for the Red Team!

8:15am – Three company vehicles & two staff cars meet on route to grab petrol and breakfast. The team are just waking up and there is an air of anticipation about the day ahead. The convoy set off in the direction of Kingston.

10:00am – We all arrive onsite and preparations are well underway. There are lighting guys, sound guys, delivery guys… and Jose – The School’s maintenance & facilities manager and our hero. Having shown us what’s happening in the main hall, Jose lets us into the auditorium – our plating area, staff room and holding area for the day. It’s difficult at this point to see how this exam hall is going to look as a glamorous venue, but the decorators are here – in them we trust!

10:30am – It’s time to start unloading… let the work commence! Staff begin to carry, pull, shift and stack. Miraculously a temporary kitchen evolves, trestles are set up for plating back of house and out front the round tables begin to take formation… Still looks like a school hall though…

13:30 – Linen is on, Cutlery is laid, plates are ready… We have an arrival drinks station, a great-looking bar and two coffee stations. It’s time to tweak each and every place setting until the room is up to Red’s standard and watch as the venue decorators work on magnificent table centre pieces complete with coloured feathers and masks, finishing the look.

14:30 – Tweaking complete (for now!) and time for the busy bees to have a breather. Dan and Will turn into Subway Sandwich Chefs for a while and fix everyone up some tasty treats, whilst chat turns to the evening ahead. I turn into Van Gogh for a while, creating a beautiful (yes, beautiful!) service plan on the whiteboard for all the staff to see. This will be the front of house team’s reference point for service tonight, so no pressure…

17:30 – Two hours to go and we like to be prepared… The second load of staff have arrived, blinking into the now transformed hall, complete with decorations, lights, a stage and an auction table… It’s starting to feel less like sports day now! The beef cooking in the oven fills the air with a tempting glimpse of the meal ahead.

18:00 – The team change into their uniforms and once we all look the part I begin my public speaker bit, briefing the enormous team of staff about the plan of action for the evening. Starters and desserts are being served from the separate auditorium tonight, so I hope everyone’s prepared for a work out. Maybe we should do some warm up stretches… Maybe not.

19:00 – Everyone is in position and we’re ready to rumble… now we just have to wait. And pray the rain stops as this partly outside service is going to be slightly damper than planned.

19:30 – Guests begin to trickle down the soaked path and thankfully the rain is slowing. Masked and dressed, guests are given champagne and offered nibbles. The party is on!

20:15 – Thanks to a master of ceremonies with a much louder voice than mine, guests are invited to be seated and service is about to commence

22:00 – starters went without a hitch and Will’s exclamation of “220 mains in 21 minutes – GET IN!” should explain how well the rest of service went. Guests are busy with their desserts and the auction has begun… Red have donated a Master Chef Experience as one of tonight’s prizes, so let’s hope that goes down well.

23:00 – Party’s in full swing for our guests as the band play a variety of classic covers. They tuck into a selection of hand picked cheeses with chutney, grapes and biscuits. It’s our dinner time so the team take it in turns to sample Red’s wonderful dishes (best part of the evening!) whilst the others clear, tidy, serve drinks and pour coffee… and they’re STILL smiling!

24:00 – The guests retire to their beds, full of Here till the bitter end, it’s clean up time for the front of house team! A whole hall’s worth of equipment is packed back into the Red vehicles and that is no mean feat. Everyone’s happy with a job well done so the mood is light as we carry, pull, shift and stack (ring any bells?)

01:00 – Our job here is done! Congratulating each other and piling back into various cars, we yawn and look forward to home, where there are beds… Just another day in the life of Red Anywhere.