ANNUAL DINNER

Saturday 11 January 2025

Gareth Bacon MP, on behalf of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London is delighted to announce that The Society’s Seventy Second Annual Dinner will be held in the Members’ Dining Room at the House of Commons, London, on Saturday 11 January 2024, at 6.30 for 7.30 pm.

The title assigned to this year’s function is A TURKISH DELIGHT.  We are much indebted to Gareth Bacon MP, who has kindly agreed to act as our sponsor as a sitting Member of Parliament, a requirement for all functions held in this unique venue.  We look forward to welcoming both him and many of our Honorary Members, as well as members of the Society from all over the world.

The decision of the House of Commons is that the seating capacity of the Members’ Dining Room shall be limited and has restricted our numbers to 170.  We know that there is significant interest from our members in attending this event and it is possible that we will be oversubscribed.  Members may only invite one guest each. The closing date for applications, is Friday 6 December.  

In a change to previous practice, bookings will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.  Please book using Mycroft if at all possible.  A manual booking form is attached in case that is not possible.  If you book and pay successfully on Mycroft – you have your places.  Ticket and further information will be sent electronically closer to the event, see below.  Please ensure your email address is correct on your record.  Should all places be sold out, Mycroft will offer you the option to be placed on a waiting list,.  We will contact you if places then become available.  Payment in sterling only please.  If you encounter any problems, please email the Meetings Secretary.

The charge for the evening will be £120.00 per head, inclusive of everything except drinks which must be paid for individually on the night.

“But why Turkish?”  Our guest speaker is journalist and author Mr Andrew Finkel.  Mr. Finkel has been based for long years in Istanbul, corresponding for a variety of international media including The Times, The Economist, TIME, CNN and for the Latitude section of The New York Times.  His articles, editorials and broadcast commentaries have appeared in a variety of places including The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Observer, The Financial Times and the BBC.  He is also a contributing editor and restaurant critic for the Cornucopia Magazine.  His experiences of working in the Turkish language press, in newsrooms, as a columnist and on television, prompted him some ten years ago to co-found Platform24 (P24) an NGO intended to support independent media and free expression. Among its projects is the popular KIRAATHANE, the Istanbul Literature House.

Mr. Finkel is also the author of The Adventure of the Second Wife, an ingenious novel based on the well-documented obsession which the last great Ottoman Sultan had for the stories of Sherlock Holmes and how this led to the enduring mystery about the meaning of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles’ (reputed) dying words.

The menu for the Dinner is as follows:-

Warm seared fillet of sea bream, herb polenta and Salamanca olives,
carrot and coriander salad, red wine shallots, coriander oil

Minted brioche-crusted lamb cannon and slow cooked breast,
red wine sauce, celeriac Dauphinoise, carrot and Cavolo Nero

Apple crumble tort: biscuit base, with vanilla cream
and chilled apple compote, pistachio and white chocolate

Coffee and petits fours

Vegetarian alternatives can be provided.

Please advise any dietary requirements when booking.

Copies of the House of Commons wine list will be sent to all successful applicants so that they can order in advance: we have found that this gives everyone more time to mingle with friends in the bar beforehand – although you will be able to place an order on the night if you prefer.

The Dinner is a formal occasion and it is customary for gentlemen to wear dinner jackets (black tie) and for ladies to wear evening dress (short or long) but this is not obligatory. Visitors from overseas in particular may not wish to bring dress clothes for only one evening and we should like to assure them that dark lounge suits and cocktail frocks are equally suitable.

Security at the House of Commons is necessarily strict, and admission will be by formal invitation only.  For this reason, we need to know the full name of your guest if you are bringing one.  Successful applicants will receive personalised invitations which will have to be produced to the police on the night in order to gain entrance to the building.  The House has agreed that we can use electronic invitations for the Annual Dinner.  In consequence, we will forward the invitations by email, so parties can either print them off to produce them on the day or use an electronic version.  Individual invitations, for each diner, will be sent by email – if the booking is for two people, two invitations will be sent.  If your account email is not the one which should be used for the invitation, for some reason, please let the Meetings Secretary know.  If an applicant does not have an email address, paper invitations will be sent by post.

On the night you will also need to bring photo ID such as a passport or photo driving licence.

Smoking, including e-cigarettes, is not permitted in any rooms, including the pre-prandial bar and the Dining Room itself.

Please check UK COVID guidance before booking and attending the event. 

The House only accepts contactless payments for drinks on the night.

The Meetings Secretary’s e mail address is: shslmeetings@sherlock-holmes.org.uk

The Society likes to keep a record of its activities, including photographs of our meetings which are published in the Journal and on the Society’s website/Facebook page.  If you do not want to appear in a Society photograph, please avoid being in any posed photographs and advise one of the meeting organisers.

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