Dinner at 40 Maltby Street

It's easy to walk past Maltby Street without a second glance, just a non-descript street alongside the railway arches a stone's throw from Tower Bridge. But if you happen to be there on a Saturday from 9am til 2pm, it comes alive as the elusive Maltby Street Market.  A great place to indulge in a cup of fresh Monmouth Coffee, stock up on Neal's Yard cheeses and a few loaves of Poilane bread, along with various other mouth watering delicacies. It goes without saying that Borough Market is legendary, and therefore is often heaving with people, but Maltby Street Market is much quieter and more intimate - a special place, for locals, friends and those in the know.

But to me, there's an even more intriguing place on Maltby Street, and that is No. 40. The proprietors of this particular arch are Gergovie Wines, suppliers of really interesting wines from the likes of the Loire, Languedoc and Alsace. And what makes 40 Maltby Street especially great is that every Friday evening, Gergovie Wines opens the wonders of its arched 'cave' to the public to reveal a superb restaurant.

I took my friend Sarah along to check it out, and it was as wonderful as I'd imagined. As we turned the corner onto Maltby Street one Friday night, we joined the thirty or so other guests, some who were spilling from the arch onto the street outside, and enjoyed a glass of something cold from the bar. Being a rather lovely wine shop, there was a really varied selection to choose from. Sarah had a sparkling glass of white wine which had a very close resemblance to cider! Whilst perched at the bar, we observed the goings on in the open-plan kitchen, inhaled the fantastic cooking smells and chatted briefly to our hosts, Raef & Harry.

Before long, we took our seats at the long, simply dressed, tressle tables and ordered a recommended bottle of 'Viti Vini Bibi', which in turn, I highly recommend. A delicious red which went down a treat. The dinner was a real feast of artichoke and lemon parcels, mussels with chermoula, guinea fowl with an onion yoghurt medley, and a strange green vegetable I'd never heard of before - kohlrabi, with mint and pomegranate. The date, coffee & cardamon cake with creme fraiche was perfectly moist, and the 'Dragon's Breath' was one of the strangest and nicest things I've tasted.  It was like eating the shredded contents of a duvet which tasted of sweet vanilla and dissolved beautifully on your tongue. I have no idea what it was made of, but there was definitely a pinch of heaven in there somewhere!

It was one of the nicest dinners I've been to, full of interesting people, great conversation and a lot of laughter. I love its simple style, and thought the food was sophisticated, exploratory and really delicious.  It was a wonderful far cry from an average Friday night and I really look forward to dining there again.  If you fancy a dinner with a difference, then I suggest you try it too, but it does get booked up, so email Raef to secure your table. Thank you Raef, Harry and the team for a really terrific evening!

Note: 40 Maltby Street no longer takes dinner bookings, but the bar is still open on Fridays and food is served in a non-menu format (Sept 2011)

Gergovie Wines
40 Maltby Street
London SE1 3PA
Email: raef@gergoviewines.com
4 course dinner £25 + wine

Dining With Alice

Have you ever imagined what it must be like to fall down a rabbit hole and end up in Wonderland? Well, a friend and I recently had the pleasure of doing something just like that, as we attended the most fantastic event called 'Dining With Alice'.  Produced by those clever folk at Artichoke (creators of unusual large scale events), it was a completely absurd dinner party set in the stunning gardens of Elsing Hall in Norfolk, and certainly befitting of a Mad Hatter.

After booking the tickets, I received an entertaining letter from Her Vivacious Majesty, The Queen of Hearts, with full written instructions for the evening.  So off to Norfolk we headed, and before long we were on the bus from the normality of Norwich to the surreal splendour of Elsing Hall.  It was early evening and the sun was shining as we entered through the perfectly manicured topiary garden (not exactly a rabbit hole, but definitely more exquisite).  As we made our way along the neat grass paths, we caught a glimpse of pale blue and blonde dashing between the topiary.  Alice.  We then knew we had arrived in Wonderland and filled with sudden excitement, we carried on our merry way.  Whilst Alice continued lurking behind the bushes.

Elsing Hall is a privately owned 15th century medieval moated manor house set in its own parkland with an arboretum.  Serenaded by peacocks, we found our way to the marquee where we were greeted by a string quartet and a wonderfully refreshing Hendricks gin and ginger ale cocktail (my new favourite tipple).  As the guests (approx 250) gradually arrived, Sally and I took in our surroundings and studied the rather baffling table plan - 'Imogen Parson: Yellow 6' didn't give much away, and Sally's 'Purple 2' wasn't any help either.  Curiouser and curiouser indeed.

Before long, all the guests had congregated and just as the anticipated chatter reached fever pitch, a bugle sounded and everyone hushed.  Across the lawn, the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, Tweedle Dum/Dee, the White Knight et al, all arrived and took to the stage to introduce themselves with a daft ditty, including her Vivacious Majesty annoucing "We're late and it's still quite early. Let us leave no bird unstoned."  The bugle sounded once more and we were all ushered outside to witness an army of sixty waiters and waitresses dashing through the woods towards us, each donning a colourful turban and a number.  As they all lined up in neat rows, performed a little song and dance whilst waving their white damask napkins, the table plan mystery unfolded. "Blue 8!" shouted one. "Green 7!" called another.  Slowly but surely, all the guests started filing off to meet their respective Turbaned Chiefs. I bid farewell to Sally as she trotted off with 'Purple 2', whilst I disppeared with 'Yellow 6'.

  

With around 4 guests per waiter, the next sene was very surreal as each waiter marched their posse of guests in various directions across the vast gardens to strategically placed and beautifully laid white tables, scattered absolutely everywhere.  The Yellow 6 team were taken right up into the woods and I took my place at a table set just for me, complete with a pineapple, jars of worms and colourful potions.  Next to my name card was a teacup full of Mock Turtle Soup and a small glass phial containing orange quinine with a tag saying 'Drink Me'.  Which I obediently did.  In true Alice 'Drink Me' fashion, I was hoping I might start shrinking (if only it was that easy!) but alas no shrinking to be seen.  It was quite strange looking around to see all the guests seated at individual tables, engaging in soup and potion with an equal amount of amused bewilderment.

A short while later, the bugle sounded again and we were off.  Team Yellow 6 left the woods and headed towards the rather lovely walled herb garden, passing diners along the way, all walking around in ever decreasing circles, heading for their next table.  I spotted Sally and gave her a quick wave. The second course was at a table set for two - myself and a stranger (mingling is definitely the name of the game). We said hello and indulged in delicious crab pate and 'Drink Me' Chardonnay whilst listening to the nearby harpist.  Meanwhile, the White Knight, Queen of Hearts and Mad Hatter were dashing here, there and everywhere, stopping for a quick chat with the guests.

By the time the bugle sounded again, we had all got the hang of it and were ready to bid our fellow guests farewell and make our way to yet another table.  I wisely decided to take my glass of wine with me as a necessary accompaniment for such intrepid dining antics. Sally and I were relieved to finally be reunited for the main course and were lucky to be seated at a perfectly positioned table under the trees, next to the moat overlooking the house.  We were joined by a nice couple and all tucked into a very tasty hot pie (we gave the cold veg a miss), and a bottle of red - this was definitely my favourite table and course. As dusk fell, I was grateful that I'd heeded the advice to 'dress up warm' as it had turned into a very chilly evening.

The final course was the most magical, as by now it was completely dark apart from an endless array of pretty tea-lights, fairy lights and paper lanterns reflecting on the moat.  All the guests were escorted to the rear of the house which looked so beautiful, illuminated in gorgeous glowing colours - it was a romantic and breathtaking sight to behold.

A platform of tables and chairs awaited us, so we took our seats and enjoyed miniature cakes, titillating elderflower and raspberry jelly, cups of tea and more wine, whilst our eccentric host of loveable characters took to the stage with the house as a backdrop, and performed their batty finale. We all joined in the Victorian parlour song, "Come into the garden, Maud". Alice finally appeared (joined by a few other younger Alices) protesting her disgruntlement at the ridiculousness of it all.

  

The evening drew to a close and we were soon heading back 'up the rabbit hole' to Norwich and mundane reality. 'Dining With Alice' was really very special and I was particularly impressed with the incredible organisation and attention to detail. Bompas & Parr did an excellent job providing the food in their imitable bonkers manner. It was an utterly brilliant evening of chaotic fun and nonsense, a feast for the imagination and something I will remember forever.  Lewis Carroll would have been proud.

All Aboard The Gingerline

There's a pop-up restaurant with a twist in town, and it's called Gingerline.  The name derives from the old East London underground line which was orange, hence 'ginger'. That line has recently become part of the rapidly expanding London Overground network, and that particular leg now stretches between Highbury & Islington down to West Croydon. 

An all female posse of food-loving chums created Gingerline last summer - a project to incorporate creative dining and artistic expression in strange places easily accessible along the line. Their unusual venues have included a fancy dress costumiers and an old Victorian shop, and they even held a dinner at the brilliant Brunel Museum and tunnel which was reminiscent of the banquet held there in 1827 (see my previous post about the Brunel Underwater Concert).

Gingerline events take place every few months and you need to book fast as places sell out like hot cakes! I was fortunate enough to secure two places for me and a friend to attend their latest dinner event - HMS Gingerline.  One of the exciting things about Gingerline is that even once you've booked and paid, you have no idea where you're actually going or what to expect until literally an hour beforehand.  All you know is that the dinner will take place somewhere along the Gingerline and will be within a 5 minute walk of the station. So, at 6pm sharp, filled with excitement and trepidation, the eagerly awaited text appeared on my phone to reveal the destination.  Shoreditch. Phew!

I forwarded the destination onto my friend and then we were off.  The meeting point was a location on Rivington Street, EC2 in the form of an interesting art space. As the various Gingerliners congregated, 'gingerly' approaching the man in the hat to establish they were at the right place, the anticipation grew. We joined the other guests as we were led inside the dark building by a butch female 'sailor' complete with HMS Gingerline tattoo, who took us right down into the doldrums of what appeared to be a large vessel.  The decor was really well done and the team had clearly worked very hard to recreate the interior of a submarine which was lit with subtle uplighters, tealights and clever light projections of portholes and underwater scenes along the walls. 

A long table dominated the room, all laid with interesting sea-faring artefacts and the special arty menus. We took our places and enjoyed a welcome enamel mug of rum and ginger ale, whilst taking in our surroundings and engaging in banter with our fellow Gingerliners. 


Being an underwater theme, we had a sea-inspired feast which was very good and cleverly thought out. Although I did find the offering of a single crab claw as an amuse bouche, quite an unrewarding palava, and was grateful for the plate of garlic pesto crostinis we received instead which were very tasty. The hearty Jerusalem artichoke soup served in a can was a fun, novel starter, and the creamy fish pie brimming with prawns, pollock and haddock was definitely the hit of the night.  Pudding was a namesake ginger arctic roll which finished the meal off perfectly.

The wine and conversation flowed and it was apparent that everyone was having a really good time. The Gingerline team even did a little performance for one of the guests who was celebrating a birthday, much to everyone's delight. These girls have really got it right with their creative concepts and attention to detail. And the fact that no two Gingerline events are the same, means you definitely want to go back and experience another one.  I know I do. So book now and get on board the Gingerline!

Gingerline

£40 per person 

3 course dinner, welcome drink and an artistic menu to keep

BYO wine.

gingerliners@gingerline.co.uk