An evening of exotic cocktails and chocolate tasting greeted TWC members at etc.venues Victoria on 13th August, as we got together to tour the venue’s sophisticated conferencing facilities and large, landscaped garden, reports Custard Communications’ Henry Rubinstein.

I always enjoy attending Westminster Collection FAM trips. It is a marvellous opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes at some of London’s most iconic venues and also a chance for members and partners to interact in a relaxed setting. This time Pimlico based conferencing venue etc.venues Victoria hosted the event for TWC members to experience and enjoy its welcoming mix of modern facilities and warm hospitality.

Upon arrival we were greeted by the pleasing sound of ice chinking in a cocktail shaker as etc.venues Victoria’s accomplished mixologist prepared Caipirinhas, a refreshing post-work quencher, very welcome on a balmy summer’s evening. These were accompanied by a delicious selection of cold canapés including: tarragon chicken terrine crostini, salami wrapped cream cheese on pumpernickel and goat’s cheese and sundried tomato tartlets.

The evening culminated in a chocolate tasting which pitted venue against venue in a fun challenge to win a bottle of Prosecco.

Having tasted all five chocolate flavours and submitting my answers, I thought I had done really well, only to be disappointed when, what I thought had been orange flavoured chocolate turned out to be apple crumble – obviously my taste buds need some training! There were definitely some keener palettes than my own with Philippa Shanahan, UK Sales Manager at CAT Publications, achieving the highest score.

Throughout the evening we were superbly looked after by sales manager Claire Bowman and her team, who put a great deal of thought and effort into keeping us all entertained. It was a really enjoyable event and I thank them for their hospitality. Click here to discover more about etc.venues Victoria.