The LOLA Awards

I write this post feeling very rusty off the back of two very large nights of LOLA partying. First of all…….Our Sexy Suppers Contest………

We rolled out the red carpet and donned our tuxes and gowns for the eagerly awaited LOLA 2012 Awards hosted by Diana and what a night! The office was a flurry of activity and make up in the lead up and the result was some gorgeous and glamorous looking ladies. And the men…………well we were there too.

Canapes were some delightful caviar, salmon and avocado blinis served up by the very patient and helpful Eme. Main course was soy-glazed salmon with spicy rice and roast peppers and finally a trio of desserts – white chocolate cheesecake, lemon posset and chocolate dipped strawberries. All washed down with pink champagne with edible gold flakes. Yum!!

And then the big awards! Congratulations to the winners as follows:

Woman of the Year – Paula Juskiewicz

Man of the Year – Piran Miller

Poshest Person Alive – Madre Visser

Office Drama Queen – Carolina Franca

Favourite Internal Affairs Moment – Madre Visser for “Hello Facebook”

Greediest Beast – Diana Sanni

I did lodge an appeal for a re-count on the Man of the Year vote but unfortunately it was confirmed I had secured last place by a considerable margin. Hence, there will be no pay rises this year for anyone.

Well done to Diana and a big thank you to Eme (and partly to John) for a wonderful night of food, awards and fun.

And the night after………the LOLA Christmas in January party………in my next post.

Duncan

 

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Happy Birthday Madre!

Take a look at the few shots of our lovely intern Madre celebrating her 21^st Birthday with us yesterday! Madre seemed to enjoy our little surprise, she laughed when she saw the pink balloons, she laughed when cutting the chocolate cake.. to then burst into tears of happiness when she saw the ‘I <3 Harry Potter’ t-shirt we got her… Well it was all very emotional for our little (yet grown up) Madre we must say! We love you Madge! All the best!

PS As it was Muhammad Ali’s birthday yesterday too, we thought we’d show you the graffiti art we’ve got on our wall. How cool is that?

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LOLA at One Marylebone

Here are a few pictures from the event at One Marylebone last week. The venue looked beautiful as always… and so did our LOLA catering staff! ;)

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LOLA Staff at Plaisterers' Hall

LOLA at Plaisterers' Hall

Last week we popped by to Plaisterers’ Hall to see how our lovely LOLA team is doing. We didn’t stay long, but we managed to take some photos of LOLA staff setting up for the Master and Clerks VIP Livery Dinner. Our waiting team made sure that the venue looked impeccable before the guests arrived. They were setting up the tables and getting ready to greet the guests with big smiles on their faces! Result? Beautiful venue, friendly service and happy guests! Well done guys!

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Employee of the Month

Phillip Kelly-Ayo

BIG congratulations to Phillip Kelly-Ayo who is our LOLA employee of the month for December!

Friends of Phillip who had the pleasure to work with him at many events describe Phillip as ‘just great, probably the most helpful LOLA staff member.’

Phillip is one of LOLA’s fantastic catering staff. Reiss, Wembley Stadium and Claridge’s Hotel are just a few organisations that have benefitted from Phillip’s great service. He’s also worked at many corporate parties, weddings, concerts and race courses.

The girls here at LOLA office say: ‘Phillip has been with us for 2 years and has been quietly excellent throughout. He always looks impeccable, arrives on time with a great attitude and is consistently efficient at work. He is a big hit with the office team, his onsite colleagues and our major clients due to his kind manner and peaceful nature. We love him!’

Also special mention to Nathan Ellis and Andreia Cernescu who have been nominated as the ’LOLA Stars’ this month and as a result we’re happy to offer a pay increase.

Thanks again guys, great job!

Helen promoting Crazy For You musical

Here is a picture of Helen promoting Crazy For You, the hit musical comedy by George and Ira Gershwin. Announced the ‘musical triumph’ by the critics, Crazy For You is a highly successful spectacle. We don’t know if it is the excellent reviews or the charms of our promo girl Helen, but the audiences of all ages storm in to the West End to see this. Looking at the pictures… it must be Helen!

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Our Amazing Team at Tower of London

Here are the pictures of our amazing team at Tower of London during the Christmas run. Thank you guys! It’s been an extremely busy time for everyone at LOLA and we wouldn’t be able to smash all of those records without you! Love, LOLA

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The Office Christmas Tree

This year we got in nice and early to buy our office Christmas tree. Duncan and Piran lugged it all the way back for us. It looked so beautiful to begin with. Perfect shape, lovely colour, strong base. We were so happy…….

Within a few days we noticed he was looking a bit sickly. A little grey. By the next morning he was falling apart. Rapidly.

Our tree seemed to have a mysterious illness; sort of like tree leprosy. The more we tried to brighten him, the more he died. Now two weeks later our Office Christmas Tree is on life support. He has lost all of his weight (needles) and has a limp. We fear he won’t survive the winter. We’ve tried water, baubles, happy thoughts, kicking him – nothing’s worked.

Essex Road Christmas Tree Man – you sold us a crappy, leper tree for £45.00. But for some reason we love him J

Merry Christmas to all of our Islington neighbours who probably also have terminal trees.  
 

Santa releases Elf for Christmas Supper

Last night the LOLA office was filled with Christmas cheer as Santa released one of his elves from a night shift to cook us a wonderful Christmas dinner in the 3^rd round of our dining contest.

A crackling fire (thanks You Tube), fairy lights and holly painted the perfect picture for a cosy start to the dinner. Ably assisted by her helper, our little LOLA Elf (we’ll call her Frosty….) served up a delicious bruschetta starter followed by a perfectly presented chicken and mushroom risotto with a sprinkling of parmesan.

It was then time for some Secret Santa - and in the absence of the man himself Frosty the Elf filled in and handed out some fabulous pressies most of which came within the £5 budget. For the second year running, one particular Secret Santa even managed to come in WELL under budget. Thanks Secret Scrooge.

Special mention to the home baked cookies, the Pounland make up set and the ‘Happy Horse.’

Following a dessert of meringue, fruit and cream, Frosty’s helper finally got to let her hair down with her new karaoke machine. The rendition of ‘Say You’ll be There’ was moving.

Eventually the lights came on and we all left the building while some old man in an Anorak sang Fleetwood Mac to himself.

A worthy 3^rd round contender for the prize. All eyes are now on round 4 where the competition gets its first look at the favourite……….

 

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Employee of the Month

Anthony Ndow

BIG congratulations to Anthony Ndow who is our LOLA employee of the month for November.

Anthony has worked for LOLA for 7 months now and has done over 120 shifts for us so far! He is one of the favourite staff members for many of our clients. He has worked at plenty of different events and the variety of venues including hotels, museums, and racecourses. He has just recently completed a very successful Christmas run.

He has been invaluable at one of main Christmas venues – The Tower of London where he was a superstar on the beast shifts of over 17 hours!!! Not only a whizz in the floor he is now bar man of choice.

Anthony’s hard work and willingness have made him our November stand out star and we cannot thank him enough.

LOLA senior team describe Anthony as ‘always great to work with’ and ‘top performer every shift’. He is ‘one of everyone’s favourite… Doesn’t matter how tough the job is, doesn’t matter how tired he is, he always does everything he is asked to!’ Well done Anthony!

Also special mention to Rosie Chatwin who has been nominated as a ’LOLA Star’ this month and as a result we’re happy to offer a pay increase.

Thanks again guys, great job!

Arabian Nights - Round 2

1 month of decision making, 2 weeks of preparation, 3 days of sourcing ingredients, a weekend for mise en place, late for work a couple of times, half a days set up……..and finally……

John Michael gives us Arabian nights! And it was well worth the wait!

We entered the candlelit Bedouin to be greeted by Abu (aka Piran) the helper boy, offering a selection of delicious cocktails known as the LOLA Oasis and made with a special ingredient of Turkish vodka (an aniseed infused vodka). In the background we had desert imagery and JMR’s favourite soundtrack Arabesque creating the Persian vibe.

With guests that included Mustafa, Princess Jasmine, a belly dancer and the Ghost of Gaddafi it was sure to be a fancy affair.

The light selection of home made hummus, freshly marinated olives and flat bread to begin with was the perfect opener. That was followed by a delectable Moroccan chicken served with apricot cous cous. Rose wines, beer and a few more rounds of LOLA Oasis washed down the main before we topped it off with some Turkish delight.

Abu had a busy night with the Arabian ladies making good use of the servant bell and we all learnt more than we bargained for about our little belly dancer!

All in all a magnificent effort from JMR who has set the bar very high for Round 3.

 

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Feel Invited!

Employee of the Month

Benjamin Collard

BIG congratulations to Benjamin Collard who is our LOLA employee of the month for October. One of LOLA’s finest chefs, Ben gathered a wide range of culinary experience whilst working in France, Spain, Morocco and Mali. After eighteen months of independent overland travel on motorbike, from West Yorkshire through Western Europe, North Africa to Ivory Coast, Benjamin joined LOLA in the beginning of 2011. Since then he has worked at various types of events including barbeques, weddings and big corporate parties. He is also one of our regulars at Wembley Stadium. All of the LOLA clients love him! Ben does a great job both at the small private parties and the big events. Ben’s hard work and dedication make him a great asset for LOLA. In September he worked a record long shift of 23.5 hours! Woah! Well done Ben!

Also special mention to Sergio Velasquez who has been nominated as a ’LOLA Star’ this month and as a result we’re happy to offer a pay increase.

Thanks again guys, great job!