London Adventures: wining, dining, and Calvinizing
I love London. I LOVE IT! Good thing too seeing as I am already working out of our London office and London will officially become my new home as of August 1st. The dual role that I serve under Calvin’s direction is clearly best filled in the land of fish and chips, the home of industry legend Michael Caselli, the center of the igaming media world, and the center of the globe as far as I’m concerned. Even though London is f’n expensive, I love the daily tangible access that I will have to the igaming industry, I love a pint after work, I love seeing a betting shop on every street corner, and I love that damn English accent!
After the iGaming SUPER Show in Prague I camped out in London for almost two weeks and spent my time working out of the London office, reporting on the Bingo Summit, enjoying a whole lot of fancy dinners with colleagues and industry friends, meeting up with Patrik Selin and the Bodog Europe team, and of course talking strategy and enjoying life with Calvin as he was in town as well.
Lets start with the fine dining.
For 12 nights straight I was treated to one fabulous dinner after the next with one industry friend after another. Zafferano’s with Joe Brennan, Sophie’s with Melissa Blau, Galvin at Window’s with Mark Blandford, Ivy with Josh Thomas, Nandos with Magnus Olby, Gaucho with Alex Pratt, Le Boudin Blanc with Patrik and Calvin, and the list goes on. Of course all these dinners came along with lots of wine, but when Calvin is involved, it does not end with the wine at dinner…
…it continues with sambuca and espresso, multiple cigars, champagne, change of location, vodka soda, more vodka soda, change of location, strip bar, raiding the mini bar, and then god knows what else. As I explained during the Prague Booze and Castles tour, if you’re hanging out with Calvin, you just don’t do anything without alcohol, and our adventures in London only further supported this very true statement.
Join Calvin for a night out and 12 hours later you’re thinking, “where did all the time go? That felt like 10 minutes!” If you’ve ever been to a party that Calvin has organized, five hours somehow collapse into a 10 minute blur, and it’s pretty much the same phenomenon when you hang out with him in person.
Let me be a little more specific.
At 5pm on a Saturday night I met Patrik and Calvin for dinner at a very nice, civilized French restaurant. We went through fine wine, we went through cigars (well, they did), we went through several bottles of champagne, and then around 11pm, we moved on to the Sanderson for a cocktail. Now this is when my memory starts to get a little fuzzy…next thing I know Patrik is gone, Calvin and I are at a VIP table at Jalouse accompanied by a lot of hot girls, Calvin is rockin’ out in his designer sunglasses, the sun is rising, I finally hit the sack at who knows what time, and I wake up at 5pm on Sunday.
Welcome to a night out with the Founder of the Bodog Brand! Oh and if anyone finds those sunglasses lying around Jalouse, a strip bar, or some other bizarre location involving a lot of beautiful women, ping me, will ya? Calvin is still looking for them…I’m serious!
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