My 40th birthday became a reflection of so many things I love and, as it turned out, the vision behind the business I’ve been building for the past eight years.
Our Marketing Manager, Paola, encouraged me to write about it. So here we are: a little look behind the scenes of a Secret Experience that, this time, was my own.
An Evening That Felt Like Me
After eight years of creating curated experiences and private events for our guests — and enjoying countless memorable dinners, restaurants, bars and events around the world — the bar for my own 40th was set fairly high.
But I wasn’t looking for the biggest party or the most extravagant setting. I wanted something meaningful, shared with a small group of close friends. An evening built around good food, thoughtful details and the freedom to let dinner turn into dancing.
In true Secret Experiences spirit, I brought together some of my favourite people in the industry to help make it happen.
A House Transformed
My close friend Kerryn, a furniture and interior designer with impeccable taste and an eye for detail, opened her beautiful Indochine house to us.
The ground floor became our space for welcome drinks and, later, our own private club. Upstairs, we created an intimate dining space where everyone could settle in for the evening.
Having both parts of the celebration under one roof meant we could move from one mood to another without leaving the house: a warm welcome, a leisurely dinner, then cocktails and music downstairs.
A Menu Made Personal
Minh, a young, self-taught chef whose passion and creativity I’ve admired for some time, designed a four-course Vietnamese fusion menu incorporating some of my favourite international ingredients.
Together with our regular wine supplier, we developed a pairing for each course — never a straightforward task when working with the complexity of Asian flavours. Choosing the wines was part of the pleasure: finding combinations that complemented Minh’s cooking while making each course feel like its own moment.
It was exactly the kind of dinner I had hoped for: thoughtful and personal, with plenty to enjoy and talk about around the table.
From Dinner to Dancing
After dinner, we returned downstairs, where my friend Duong, an award-winning mixologist, crafted cocktails while Stu, our DJ, kept everyone dancing well into the night.
I loved that the evening didn’t have to end when dinner did. We simply changed floors, changed the music and carried on celebrating.
The Experience Behind the Business
What stayed with me most was how naturally everything came together: the house, the food, the wine, the cocktails, the music and, above all, the people.
Each person brought something of their own to the evening. Together, those contributions made it feel unmistakably personal — and reminded me of what I have always wanted Secret Experiences to be about.
Not simply organising an event or taking people somewhere, but bringing together the right people, places, flavours and stories to create something memorable.
Eight years into building this business, it felt special to realise that the experience I wanted for one of my own biggest milestones was, in many ways, exactly what we have been creating for our guests all along.
A pretty perfect way to enter my 40s. ✨🥂
A Milestone of Your Own?
Whether you picture an intimate dinner, an evening of cocktails and dancing, or something entirely different, we can help create a celebration that feels like you.