Red-hot guests spice things up at a new-look old-fave Indian.
It was to the revamped Bombay Brasserie off the Gloucester Road that a parade of the fabulous and famous headed for the first big dinner of 2009. Nick Rhodes joked to the mastermind behind the restaurants transformation, Arun Harnal, that he hadn't been there since 1988: 'It was much smokier then.' Royalty was present in the form of David Linley, and Pidge Spencer finally met her former uncle-in-law, Lucian Freud, who descended in glory with his sitters of the moment, David Dawson and a beautiful artist called Perienne. Power and glamour were out in force, with everyone from Andrew Neil to the Vandrevalas, for the dinner hosted by Georgie Greig, editor of Tatler. There was also a hero from the hotel shootings in Mumbai in attendance - renowned chef Hemant Oberoi, who lost some of his staff in the tragedy. Bob Geldof wore coral; Amanda Eliasch told tales of LA; Celia Birtwell discussed theatre with Josephine Hart; and Charlotte Stockdale, Marc Newson and Elizabeth Saltzman Walker talked fashion by the bar. VS Naipaul arrived hot from his African travels - and with cool young bucks like Tara Ferry and Louis Mosley getting stuck into the Oval vodka cocktails it was always going to be a fairly tasty affair.
