Diary of a Shopkeeper, 13th December

LUXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.jpg

A dozen or so years ago, the Lynnfield Hotel and Kirkness & Gorie got together to host a one-off evening of good food, fine wine, and excellent company.  We called it The Lux, a pun on luxury and the Latin word for light.  The idea was that a luxurious night out was just the thing to brighten a dark, dreich winter weekend.

Such was the popularity of that first Lux, that we repeated the idea throughout that winter, and have been doing so ever since.  I’ve lost count of how many we’ve done now, but it’s well over 100.

The format is always the same: five or six small courses, each with a taste of a different wine to match the food.  Usually the wine and the flavours of the food come from the same area: the Rhône Valley in southern France, say, or Marlborough in New Zealand.

The other regular element is me, jumping up three times over the course of the evening to tell a story about where each wine comes from, who made it, and how their grape-growing and wine-making connects to the history and geography of their area, and the food they eat – which we are now enjoying hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Back in 2008, before the first Lux, I thought of my speeches as vaguely educational.  I had already spent years studying food and wine, and working with it in different contexts.  I thought I would pass on some of what I’d learned, and more that I was picking up as fast as I could by meeting winemakers, reading books, memorising maps of the regions – and even getting to visit them occasionally.

Well, there is some truth in that, but I realised early on that the most important part of my role was something else entirely.

What people come to the Lux for is not my speeches and it’s not really the food and wine either.  Oh yes, those are important, there’d be no Lux without them.  But most important of all is company and conviviality, the experience of sitting around a table with friends for three or four hours.

There’s eating and there’s drinking, but above all there’s talk and there’s laughter.  Couples gaze into each other’s eyes over a glass of bubbly.  Family bonds are renewed as the courses and the conversation flow.  Acquaintances become friends as life stories are shared and opinions debated.

My role in all this is to interrupt the happy chatter every 45 minutes or so.  I press the pause button, and, in the temporary silence, I draw everyone’s attention to some interesting aspects of the wine and the food.  There might be a memory of visiting a particular vineyard, or a joke, or an attempt to sum up what makes a wine special. 

I hope that some of those words make a connection and stay in the guests’ memory.  But what really matters is that when I press play again, and step out of the dining room, the conversations restart with new energy.  Sometimes discussing what I’ve said or the food and wine, but often about something else entirely.

The important thing is, everyone is enjoying themselves, everyone is either talking or listening, everyone is doing that most important human thing: making genuine connections with the people around them.

The importance of this came home to me this week, as we held the first Luxes since February.  Covid cancelled March’s Lux, and the Wine Festival’s equivalent in May.  It wasn’t safe to get going in September or October, and even in November the restrictions made it impossible.

But by early December going out for a meal was once again possible as long as the rules of engagement were observed: up to six people from two households per table; masks worn when entering or moving about; tables spread apart much more than usual.  And so on.  It’s tedious to write it all down, but once the Lux got going, the whole experience was painless, and it barely impinged on the evening.  A splendid time was had by all.

All nine Luxes in December are fully booked, and the atmosphere at the first few has been joyous.  Many people have been longing for some real human contact, and a long, leisurely meal with friends is just about as good as it gets.  There’s so much to catch up on after all these months apart.

It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be allowed to fulfil my ‘pause and play’ role once again at such important expressions of our shared humanity.  And it’s especially exciting to be sharing the role for the first time with someone else.  Kirkness & Gorie’s manager, Lauren Gilmour, who has visited and studied the north Italian wineries featured in the current Luxes, is alternating nights with me.  A chance to make some exciting new connections, as well as renew valued old ones.

Cheers!  Saluti!  Bon appetit!

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 17th December. Other diaries continue to appear weekly. I am posting them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.

Events move fast! A couple of days after this column was published in The Orcadian, Orkney went into Tier 3 lockdown: from 26th December, all restaurants have to close at 6pm - and no alcohol sales are allowed. Both of these strictures hamper the success of a Lux!

With a heavy heart, we had to accept that the three Luxes planned for between Christmas and New Year would have to be cancelled. As the lockdown is due to be reviewed in mid-January, we have high hopes that we will be shining light in the darkness once again at the end of that month, and February, and March. Look on the bright side!

 

Duncan McLean