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Nicola Mair, Robert McMillan and Oriente Issa are obviously having a grand time at the party.
Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
MI DAAHLINGS the Christmas party season is off and running and to a simply fabulous start. And partying does not get any better than this as this one had all the ingredients of fabdom the very crème of the social elite in attendance; satisfying fare, premium libations and at a preferred address!
It's been almost five years since Anthony and Jeanne Watson returned to Jamaica from their Bermudan home. The couple who before deciding on making Bermuda their home were leading leading players in the Jamaican social strata and definite A-Crowders, as Anthony Watson was heir to the Watson Off Track Betting fortune and his wife a sibling of Betty-Jo Desnoes and the charming Margaret Croskery.
Their departure for Bermuda, however, created a void as the Watsons were long known for their fabulous soirees, to-die-for dinner invites and elegant receptions, all underpinned by their celebrated sense of joie de vivre.
It has been said one of the primary ingredients that separates the upper-class from mere mortals, is you either got 'it', or you don't!
Now, y'all should know that that 'it' is that indescribably something, that very intangible but really very tangible quality, that the French refer to as je ne sais quoi, that set the fabulous apart from pretenders to fabdom. The Watsons probably have a patent on this enviable quality. And no surprises here as haute-style is their first and second nature.
TALK OF THE TOWN
Well, pumpkins, since their return to Jamaica, not only have the Watsons reasserted their primacy in the social pecking order, their events are once again the talk of the town and making their coveted guest list can either make or break a person socially.
And when it comes to hosting and/or throwing a party, none do so with the pizzazz and/or oomph like those to the manner born. In this respect the Watsons are head and shoulders above the rest.
Sweet-things, no 'same ol, same ol' here as we are talking the regal style and elegance of the well-to-do. Dears, the couple never repeat themes; they always provide the very best of fares, and grand style is always the very essence of their outings!
Well pumpkins, with plans to spend their Christmas and New Year's holidays in the playground island of the rich and fabulous known as St. Bart's, the Watson family decided on throwing their Christmas party a little early this year. It was hosted on Tuesday evening at their swanky upper St. Andrew condominium, and it was all that and then some!
My daahlings, with the men at ease in shirt sleeves, the women went to town in their ensembles and dearhearts, they worked it! Ah, the fashion, couture, not prêt-a-porter! Diamonds, not zircons! Vicuña, not cashmere! And no frivolous drama or drama queens here, only style my dears, haute-style.
EXOTIC ORCHIDS, CHRYSANTHEMUMS
Hosted on the garden patio of the Watson's home and the gardens ablaze with the fabulous colours of exotic orchids and chrysanthemums, guests entered along a path illuminated by billowing bamboo torches, waiters and waitresses studiously placed along the way welcoming flutes of kir royale, mimosas, and martinis presented to arriving guests. They were then ushered unto the elevated garden patio and into a gathering a-buzz with a number of the nation's leading personalities, where a regal looking Anthony and Jeanne Watson, welcomed all.
Michelle Bovell wore an outfit that looked so fine even Cleopatra would have had her put to death to inherit it.
Yes, it was like that!
And then there was the fare! Dears the Dragon Garden Restaurant's chef and owner Chun Nam Liu Liu, served up some Peking Duck, Crapes and Plum Sauce that was to die for. Peter Machado of Mac's Chop's House served up some chicken, steak and vegetable quesadillas and some steak kebabs that were over the top. And there was the host's celebrated curried ackee dip, Bermuda codfish and potato with ripe banana, glazed sweet 'n' sour meat-balls and his brother-in-law's (Hugh Croskery) chicken liver paté with some smoked marlin and caviar to complete the fare.
And then there were the guests; a virtual who's who, of Jamaica's ruling elite with among the notables present: Richard and Ursula Ashenhiem; Tony and Sheila Hart; Desmond and Peggy Blades; Alex Hamilton and the charming Erica Downer; Lady Patricia Golding; Jack and Jean Ashenheim; the McConnell family represented by Peter and Joan McConnell; Mark and Diane McConnell and Stewart and Denise McConnell; Christopher and Michelle Bovell; Susan Alexander; Maurice and Tiny Stoppi; John and Jill Andrews; Dennis Lalor; Ron and Barbara Sasso; Lee Issa; Paul and Oriente Issa; Robert Cartade and wife Carole Issa-Cartade; Dr. Ralph and Doreen Thompson, 'Dodi', to her friends; Robert MacMillan; Roy and Sylvia Collister; Robert and Barbara Henriques; Peter Proudlock; Richard and Diana Stewart, her mom Jo Page, also out; Dr. John and Paddy Masterton; Phillip and Christine Gore; Michael and Thalia Lyn; George Fatta; Jennifer Lim; Mike and Alma Vicens; PJ Stewart, looking fabulous; Drs. Dhiru and Laura Tanna; Lorna Myers; Ian and Cecelia Levy; the elegant Janette Stewart; Dr. Oswald and Marigold Harding; Desmond and Valerie Levy.
Also out were: Ambassador Douglas Saunders and Angela Robertson; British High Commissioner HE Jeremy Cresswell and companion Dr. Barbara Munske; Canadian High Commissioner HE Claudio Valle and his fabulous wife Louise Valle; Russian Ambassador HE Igor and Olga Lebedev; Spanish Ambassador HE Jesus Silva; Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner HE Dennis Francis; Chilean Ambassador HE Alfanso Silva; Brazilian Ambassador HE Cezar De Souza Lima Amaral and wife Lida; Hugh and Margaret Croskery; John and Betty-Jo Desnoes; a fabulous looking Marguerite Lynch; Trevor and Margaret DeLeon; Norman and Jean Wright; Drs. Richard and Carolyn Gomes; the charming Mary Hanna; Herman McDonald and wife Beth Hyde-Parnell-McDonald; Nicola Croswell-Mair; Robert and Sandra Ramsey; Peter and Tina Matalon; Andrea Bickhoff-Benjamin; David and Terry Shoucair.
