Ask Bianka where dinner should happen and the answer arrives before the question has finished. She stands 165 cm, softly curved, unhurried on a heel. The light brown hair falls past her shoulders and turns to something close to gold at the ends, and the hazel eyes warm up the moment a candle is lit near them. Early twenties by birth certificate and several decades older in wardrobe, she dresses in vintage silk, a nipped waist, a lipstick chosen to flatter the wine rather than the dress.
Warmth arrives first with her and attention second, and it is the attention people remember afterwards. She asks questions that are genuinely about you, then repeats your answers back a fortnight later, which is unnerving the first time it happens. Her English is fluent and unhurried. She cooks southern Italian food properly, learned standing next to somebody rather than reading anything, collects clothes from the forties, and can discuss a wine list at length without turning it into an examination of your taste.
Her Covent Garden evening is built around one long table. Ave Mario on Garrick Street suits her best, all painted ceilings and cheerful noise, where dinner runs three hours because nobody at the table wants to stand up and leave. She will order for everyone if invited to, splits every plate down the middle, and drinks one glass considerably slower than you expect her to. Afterwards the Piazza is lit, the performers have packed up their crates, and the walk back is quiet.
She keeps a flat in Knightsbridge, so a day of notice lets the desk hold a proper table in Covent Garden rather than whatever is left at eight o'clock. One line to booking with the date in it starts the whole thing moving.
Her home stage is Knightsbridge, and she travels from there to the venues this house covers. Her full listing sits with the rest of the company on the companions page.