City’s Art School Restaurant kicks off 10th birthday celebrations with Queen of Crime author event

Liverpool’s Art School Restaurant is kicking off its 10^th birthday celebrations with an exclusive author event with famed thriller writer Lynda La Plante.

Lynda, who’s been nicknamed the Queen of Crime because of her award-winning TV and literary career, will launch her new memoir at the Art School on Thursday, September 5.

Getting Away With Murder: My Unexpected Life on Page, Stage and Screen is the funny and often moving life story of the actor, writer and producer, from early days in Liverpool to her unexpected acceptance into RADA joining peers like Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt and Ian McShane, her best-selling books and her scriptwriting career with hits like Widows and, of course, Prime Suspect.

Art School owner and chef patron Paul Askew says:

“We have only ever done one book launch before when it was mine in 2018, but an opportunity came about because Lynda was coming back to Liverpool to launch her memoirs.

“She is one of the most famous daughters of the city and although she doesn’t live here anymore, Lynda wanted to come back to her home city and do something for her chosen charity, The Royal Variety Charity.”

“It came about through a conversation with Colin McKeown, founder of LA Productions, and we are very excited to host what will be a great event.”

Lynda will sign copies of her books for each person and do an after dinner talk on the evening.

Guests will enjoy champagne and canapes on arrival, before sitting down to a three-course meal from a specially-curated menu from Paul and chef Vince Premel-Cabic, served with paired wines.

Dishes will include twice-baked soufflé of Elrick log and Montgomery cheddar, baby leaf spinach with a garlic and parsley sauce to start, and hayroast sirloin of Wagyu beef & braised ox cheek with cordyceps, persillade, caramelised shallot and miso puree and charred cabbage as a main.

“We are going to donate £25 per head to The Royal Variety which will be great,” says Paul. “People who love Lynda get to meet her and get a book signed by her.

“They’ll dine in the Art School, and it’s a lovely menu with wines, and they will get to listen to Lynda who I hear is a real raconteur and who I’m sure will have some amazing stories to tell – everyone remembers Helen Mirren and Prime Suspect – in a really intimate setting.

“It’s a one-off, incredible evening and it will be fantastic to start the celebrations for our own 10^th birthday with this and other extraordinary events.

“It’s a big thing for us to host this and thanks to Colin who’s a big supporter of ours.”

The 10^th birthday celebrations will continue with the launch of The Art School’s Christmas events on Monday, along with:

* An Exclusive Fragrance Launch Event with Penhaligon’s – guests can enjoy fizz and a fabulous two-course meal while discovering the new scent from the iconic British perfume house on Friday, September 27

* A special afternoon of l’Arc du Triomphe Racing on October 6 – celebrating one of the most famous French horse racing events, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, with a French Sunday Lunch. Horse racing will be screened in the background and guests will be able to place bets with a bookie and get expert advice from a top tipster. There’ll also be live music

* A Winemakers Dinner with Charles Heidsieck on Thursday, December 5

And more…

“It’s great, and we have just signed with Aintree and the Jockey Club for another three years after finishing our initial contract with them,” says Paul, “and we are working on plans for New Year.

“Ten years is a great milestone. We have always tried to be the trailblazers and standard bearers for this city, and that’s not going to change.

“We are going to continue that. We are seeing the profile of Liverpool developing all the time in terms of its food culture and what we have done to add to, and elevate, things like Eurovision, G7, and The Turner Prize.

“Flying the flag for the city is very important to us and as we look to the next 10 years, if anything we’ll put our foot to the floor a bit more.

“Lynda will help us to press the accelerator pedal, and we are very excited.”