Take one chef, a tiny village in East Kent, a village hall with very limited cooking facilities, and a hungry bunch of 50 punters, and what can you make happen?
If your name is David Hart (former chef at the then-acclaimed Fitzwalter Arms in Goodnestone, and now mostly at the Goods Shed in Canterbury), together with Jonny Sandwich (also based at the Goods Shed) the answer looks something like this:
A gorgeous menu…
A candle-lit room full of ravenous customers…
And charmingly decorated tables…
And then, the food. First, the first of the season’s asparagus (from Sevenscore Farm, near Ramsgate), sweeter than any asparagus I’ve ever eaten:
And yes, the egg was poached to oozy perfection…
Followed by flappingly-fresh mullet (from Simon the Fish, at the Goods Shed) on a vibrant wild garlic risotto:
Even with just 2 courses gone, this was already an outstanding meal by any standards, let alone one prepared on borrowed ovens (not in the hall), and portable burners. You think I exaggerate the hall’s facilities? Well, this is what David was working with in the kitchen:
Anyway, back to our meal…
The main was exuberantly generous portions of shoulder of lamb (from Chandler and Dunn) - braised so long and slow that it gave way to the slightest prod from knife and fork, and melted in the mouth in the way that you always hope for, but very rarely get…
And finally, and just as we were wondering whether we could actually eat any more – our splendidly retro rhubarb and ginger trifles arrived:
By now fully sated and extremely content, noone seemed in a hurry to go anywhere. So the candles kept burning while the conversation and wine continued on into the night…
…until finally, our chef emerged, dazed and no doubt very tired, but happy to chat and to take his well-deserved applause and praise. The most frequently-asked questions? ‘How did you do that?’ and ‘When will you do another one?’!
And the answer to the latter is very soon – on 27 May, in fact. This time he’ll be popping up in the Red Lion at Stodmarsh, in a rather more suitable kitchen! You can book here - but be quick, as tickets are understandably selling fast…
Looks like great night’s food. Congrats to Dave.