THE ROVING REPORTER

FIRST EVER BURNS EVENING

AT THE NEW WEST END

By DAVID FISHER

Haggis at the New West End? Dinner Jacket in the Golda Cohen Room? Malt whiskies strong enough to warm the heart of even the most hearty of drinkers?

Yes – all this and more awaited the 40 New West End diners gathered to celebrate the memory of Scotland’s most distinguished poet, known in local circles as Rabbie Burns. The inspiration for this extraordinary evening came from a certain Rabbi Shisler, a man who knows a thing or two about the spiritual needs of his congregation. Not to forget Anne Shisler, who knows that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach – and of course on Burns Night this means Haggis.

I can tell you that this was a superb Haggis, created from a secret recipe by Anne and born aloft into the Golda Cohen Room. Accompanying these were the finest bagpipes ever heard at the New West End, played by Sergeant Ian Lowther from the 1st Battalion of the Scots Guards based across the park at Wellington Barracks.

To enlighten us into the Burns mystique we were fortunate to have Dick Wolfson, one of Scotland’s most eminent anaesthetists, who was extremely witty, and of course wore a kilt, as did proudly his compatriot Jeremy Lawson. (Should women be allowed to see men’s knees on synagogue premises?)

As the last drop of Bowmore’s Finest Darkest – or was it the Darkest Finest – was poured from the bottle a resounding Three Cheers echoed to the rafters to thank the Rabbi and Anne for masterminding a splendid addition to the New West End’s repertoire.