Steam's founder, MC and host for two decades of celebrity lunches
EntertainmentFor 20 years, if you walked into Steam for a sports lunch, the man with the microphone was Stephen Chenery. Founder, host, master of ceremonies, storyteller in chief. Steam's celebrity lunch format is, to a very large degree, his invention.
Chenery's hospitality career started a long way from the City. He cut his teeth in restaurants in London and San Francisco, including Bluebird on the King's Road, Bix in San Francisco, and a stint at Chelsea Football Club. He opened Steam in 2005 as an independent City of London wine bar, and quickly grew it into the EC3 venue for lunchtime events with legends of sport and broadcasting.
The format became instantly recognisable. Senior insurance brokers, a decent list of fine wines, and a world class speaker with Stephen in the chair drawing the stories out of them. Over two decades he introduced, interviewed and sparred on stage with names across football, rugby, boxing, cricket and racing. Regulars stopped calling it a venue and started calling it a club.
In 2024 he stepped back from day to day ownership. He is also the author of A Can Full of Steam, a memoir covering his path from travelling America in the eighties to building one of London's most loved independent venues.
On the microphone he is relaxed, quick, and impossible to throw, with a comic's sense of timing and 20 years of stories about the people who sat on Steam's stage. Few hosts in London know a room like he does.
Two decades of world class speakers in the basement at EC3. Want to book Stephen Chenery or someone like them? Tell us what you need and we will come back with a plan.
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