Back in 1997, after two years of refusing to work with Shell after the Brent Spar and Ken Sara-Wiwa controversies, SustainAbility helped the oil company to produce its first Triple Bottom Line report, People, Planet, Profit. Tom Delfgaauw, then Vice President of Sustainable Development, had brought us in to work alongside ADL.
Today Geoff Lye and I went by Eurostar to Brussels, to take Tom (who had suffered a recent fall, ending up with three stitches in his mouth) out to lunch to mark the end of his period of involvement in SustainAbility, and ours.
We had asked him where he wanted to go – and he said Restaurant Bon Bon. Both the food and the wines were unbelievably good, each dish with its own wine. Six dishes, six wines: Rias Baixas, Leirana; Pessac-Léognan 2012, Château La Louvière; En Quatre Vis 2016, Les Marnes Blanches, Jura; Tourraine Rouge 2017, Les Hautes-Baigneux; Douro 2015, Quinta da Gaivosa; and Saké Yogokoishi 1999.
A stunning meal – and stunningly expensive, too. But a milestone well marked – and I hugely enjoyed travelling to and fro with Geoff, in quite remarkably warm Spring weather. February weather full of portents, but an extraordinary way to mark the 25th year of the Triple Bottom Line.
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