Dinner at Mine

Over the years I’ve been cooking for people, many have asked me if I’d ever thought about running a restaurant. That would be a huge time and money commitment, and I think I’m about 30 years too old to start one now! 

Instead I started experimenting with organizing a supper club at my place. And it’s been rather successful! I first came across the idea in a Jamie Oliver television programme a few years ago. He visited someone’s New York apartment that was being run as a restaurant once a week. Guests could book, for one or more people, and they would sit at a single large table, just like at a dinner party. The concept has really caught on in Britain. There is now a company called WeFiFo that was set up to run the operational side of supper clubs: promoting them, and taking bookings. I have used them for some of my most recent events. And I recently took part in an ‘on-air’ supper club they organised with BBC Surrey.

I don’t hold a supper club on a regular basis: I’m often booked up with catering jobs. But when I do I try and get a minimum of 12 people, up to a maximum of 16. I announce the event here on my website, and on Instagram. And if you are on my mailing list you will of course get to hear about it by email—a good reason for signing up!

Your own private dinner party to order

On the other hand, if you want to arrange 12 friends and let me know, I’ll put on a dinner party just for you. You get the place to yourself and you all sit together round my big dining table. If you prefer, it could be lunch instead of dinner—entirely up to you. And if you’d like to book for fewer, I will use my best endeavours to fill another table or two to make the total number up to 12.

Once we’ve agreed a date—or even before—I’d be very happy to discuss menu options, based on your preference for Asian or Mediterranean food—or a mixture. I would then send you a menu a week or so before the event, just in case there was something on it to which one of your party had a serious aversion!

If you fancy the idea of going out to dinner with a group of friends for a delicious meal which is, I guarantee, a little bit different from the usual restaurant fare, at a very reasonable price, then why not give it a try? The normal ‘cost contribution’ (it’s a club, not a restaurant) is just £38 a head, for at least three courses—or the equivalent if the menu isn’t course-orientated. Payment when you book. Obviously I have no alcohol licence, so it’s bring your own bottle/s – and equally obviously there is no corkage fee.

Call or email me, or send a note via the contact form.  Anvil Cottage is open for business!