IF, like me, you are an armchair entertainer somebody who sits and dreams about how nice it would be to have people round for dinner or drinks the week after next, when things are less hectic you may be nearing the point at which it's time to stop the reverie and seize the telephone. In the winter, somehow, it's easy to be anti social, to sit snugly by the fire and simply not care that pro-crastination is the thief of time and many a good party. But when the sun shines, the urge for company blossoms. The invitations, long postponed, are finally issued. Then you wilt at the thought of all the hard work.
I had been mulling over this conundrum a while ago when a letter arrived from a man who sounded like an answer to the armchair entertainer's prayer. "Frank Harrison. The Complete Mobile Bar, Wine and Waiter Service", it was headed. I made discreet inquiries among wine merchants and big time party hosts the sort of people who hire in help all the time.
Was this chap really so special? Apparently he was. "Frank works incredibly hard and delivers absolutely," Peter Dunne of Mitchells said. "People put their trust in him for extremely important events. That's a testimonial in itself." Had he more to offer than all the other rent a waiters whose faces are familiar from receptions? Apparently he did.
The service offered by Frank Harrison and his wife Catherine is special in a number of respects.
For one thing, it is extraordinarily flexible, stretching from house parties of maybe 14 people all the way up to monster functions. The record breaker to date was last year's reception for 1,800 members of the World Association of Gynaecologists under taken by Frank in association with the Friends of the Rotunda. At the smallest parties, he or Catherine will work alone, taking coats, serving drinks, serving dinner, if required, with appropriate wines, then tidying up. For bigger events, he has a team of up to 20 experienced waiters on whom to call.
As far as wine is concerned, this member of the Guild of Sommeliers is able to offer clients an unusually wide choice. Far from being tied to a single merchant, he buys from several, besides dealing direct with a number of importers. Mitchells, McCabes, Findlaters, The Vintry in Rathgar, Febvre & Co, Taserra, Fitzgeralds . . . Even the fussiest, thirstiest customer could hardly complain of lack of scope when presented with the lists from all of these. Wine is bought on a sale or return basis, so there is never any danger of supplies running out. He looks horrified at the mere suggestion. "I'm fastidious! I never, ever run out. If I ever ran out oh no, it just couldn't happen."
That applies to more than just wine, of course. A full bar service is available kegs of beer, spirits, soft drinks. When the occasion demands, there is also the option of a cash bar.
And then there are all the extra bits and pieces which make the Mobile Bar Service complete. Crisp white tablecloths, trestle tables, ice, water jugs, ashtrays, tumblers and, best of all, correct and handsome glasses for red, white and dessert wine. Frank has over 2,000 ranged on shelves in his Rathgar garage an admirable alternative to the dreaded uni-size Paris goblets.
Most important of all, perhaps, is the personal touch Frank Harrison brings to the job, along with gallons of enthusiasm. He makes a point of meeting every client beforehand, arrives an hour before the party and leaves after the last guest has gone (even if it means staying until 7 o'clock in the morning, as happened one recent weekend). And if the last guest should happen to be in what Frank describes as too "weary" a condition to leave, he may even do the ferrying home. "I absolutely love the work," he says. "I love the buzz of it, and I meet so many nice people."
Before he set up his mobile bar business in 1990, he was on the other side of the bar, managing Conways in Parnell Street for many years. "The doctors from the Rotunda were in and out all the time and used to ask for help with drinks parties that's how the whole thing started." Medics still form the core of a business which has grown rapidly by word of mouth. Banks, investment companies, the Powerscourt Estate, Tailor's Hall, Carton House all are now on the Party Service client list, along with private individuals. "I get great local support from people in Rathgar and Terenure," Frank says, "but the service is nationwide. I've travelled as far as Foxford, Co Mayo."
Now to a key issue how much it costs to have somebody else to fuss over your guests. For small parties Frank Harrison charges £10 an hour. Allowing for an hour before and after, that typically works out at around £60 for a dinner party. For bigger functions there is a £50 set up charge plus an hourly rate, calculated according to the number of helpers required. A dinner party for 100, for example, would need three waiters and cost approximately £200. Glass hire is extra 10p per glass.
Viewed as an alternative to frenzied pre-party preparations, in party tugging at the husband's reeve to keep topping up the glasses of flat exhaustion afterward it sounds reasonable enough.