Page 136 - Classics Issue

When we received an invitation from our friend Clementine to visit the new London Smith and Wollensky we just had to accept. With mouth-watering curiosity we had to see if this restaurant would live up to the high standards set in the New York and Las Vegas branches where we had both eaten on many previous occasions, it most certainly did.On arriving, we were introduced to the very charismatic Nathan Evans, who treated us to a fabulous dinner with lively and interesting conversation, Nathan is a great host. After chatting for several hours we decided there and then that we had to write this article.Nathan’s story is quite inspirational and we both realised that Nathan’s example of dedication and hard work would inspire everyone hoping to reach the pinnacle of their profession.This is Nathans story as he told it to us: “I grew up in Wales. My father an electrical engineer and mother a housewife.After a grammar school education I went to university, the frst in my family, and studied planning in Birmingham.It was, here at college I developed life skills, singing and playing guitar in various bands and working in restaurants and bars, the latter always paying better than the former.My band mate and lifelong friend Stuart later found a home at Microsoft, but while at college we worked together at a hotel in the picturesque tourist village of Burford in the Cotswolds.It was at the Bay Tree Hotel, former home of Tanfeld - Baron of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I, that I fell in love with wine. The cellars were well stocked, but the hotel was in receivership and in a state of fux. As a result many of the fantastic vintages were not even present on the restaurant’s wine list. I bought a few second hand wine books and set about my education. I hand wrote a connoisseurs list and began selling!While still only working during the holidays from University, I started to realise that I didn’t want to return to South Wales and work in the planning department of Gwent County Council, when the fner things in life were becoming known to me. After graduation, I told my parents I was heading for London to work in hospitality. My father thought I’d lost my senses, but off I went, to take a trainee manager’s position with Davy’s of London, the wine merchants and wine bar operator.The City of London was quite different in 1991, while only a few chalk stripped, bowler-hatted commuters remained crossing London Bridge each morning, much of the City was still very ‘old school’. Most bars in the square mile closed at 8pm and never opened at the weekend. With weekends free, I thought my rock-n-roll career wasn’t dead after all! Sadly my life was thrown into turmoil with the premature death of my father from bowel cancer at just 59. The weekends became at opportunity to visit my mother who slipped into depression faced with a long life without the man she loved. I threw myself into the job, quickly being promoted to General Manager, the youngest Davy’s ever had.Sales came easily to me and I clocked up a long list of sales incentive competitions, which saw me travel to the wine producing regions of Champagne, Rioja, Napa and Sonoma in the USA, the Hunter Valley in Australia, Bordeaux and Burgundy. During this time I sold more Dunhill mild-aged cigars than any of the 48 Davy Managers and saw me presented with an engraved Dunhill watch that I still wear today. 15 years I spent, working my way through the ranks, initially running larger and larger bars and restaurants for Davy’s, before taking responsibility for multiple sites as an Area Manager. Itchy feet, and an ill-fated attempt to go it alone, led me to a meeting with the charismatic Ranald Macdonald, founder and proprietor of Boisdale, the home of Scottish hospitality, cigars, jazz and one of the greatest and largest collections of whisky in Europe. Over 10 years Ranald and I changed Boisdale from a small lifestyle business with two London Restaurants and a pub in Wiltshire to a strong luxury lifestyle brand, celebrating the fner things in life. We opened the huge Boisdale of Canary Wharf in April 2011 and brought Jools Holland in to curate the music programme. Big artist where booked, Chuchu Valdez, Albert Lee, Midge Ure and of course Jools’ own Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. Award ceremonies were held and the highlight was persuading Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to accept the Cigar Smoker of the Year Award in 2014.