The Montpelier Basement

Remarkably for a waitress in the approaching summer I secured a late notice Saturday off (was too late to attend the gig I'd cancelled but count your blessings etc...) and after a little begging I secured a seat for myself and the Blonde at the much talked of Montpelier Basement supper club. Now, I'm not one of those bloggers who review food generally (not because I don't like such blogs, I like the well written ones, it's just that I don't eat out enough to warrant it) but this was too good an experience not to mention it here to you good and decent people who glance over this hastily written series of entries.

The notion of the supper club has been mentioned before in this blog (see Terroir de Toulouse) but not really explained, so for those of you not glued to twitter supper clubs are part of the 'guerilla restaurant' movement whereby food types host dinners for strangers in a home setting (like the Basement) or in some previously unthought of location (think The Secret Supper club on C4 hosted by Olly Smith). The rules are: BYOB, pay the suggested donation in cash, be prepared to meet new people loosen up a bit. The last rule is for me, I'm sure the rest of you are perfectly comfortable in social situations where you can't hide behind a focaccia or mountain of cakes.

This particular supper club is run by Elly and Dan, respectively of The Pear Cafe and Trethowan's Dairy, Dan also of Essex Eating, actually worth a read re restaurant reviews as he's definitely not doing it for freebies and knows his onions, so to speak. They source their food locally so everything is bang on season and take bookings of no more than four so that their tables will always have people mingling and communicating, if only ooh-ing and ah-ing about the food.


Oh the food. Just look at that menu. A foodie dream. I'm not going to waste time explaining dishes I haven't photographed and you haven't eaten as I won't do them justice. Just read that chalkboard and take it in, picture it, taste it. It was better than that. Picture it again. No, better than that too. Never mind. A particular revelation was the Sipsmith Gin, tonic and cucumber ice with little flecks of finely chopped cucumber though the dish adding a third texture to the liquid and ice. And it had a whopping gin kick to it, an amazing palate cleanser but not for the faint hearted drinker.

The Blonde and I arrived bang on time and were joined at our table by Jamie, a keen home gardener working in student accommodation, Jo, who worked for Aardman (wow!) and for instant food celebrity, Richard and Jo Bertinet of Bertinet Kitchen in Bath. All were charming, interesting people, M. Bertinet in particular I must thank for teaching us how to drink our Muscat and not telling us off for not knowing better! It will be properly chilled next time, je vous promets. We also happened to be attending the same night as a very lovely pair of friends who had sensibly booked and not had to beg returns. They were seated elsewhere, but from the catch up in the taxi home we gathered they loved it.

Having served the final course of rarebit served on Bertinet sourdough Dan and Elly emerged to join us and went from table to table chatting, joking and laughing, perfect hosts through and through. The Blonde and I emerged tipsily elated and more than a little in awe of the people who take on such a huge task, set it in their own homes and pull it off with such style.

For more information on Supper clubs check out MsMarmite's excellent site here.

And some Twitter links to get you in the know:

@BertinetKitchen
@trethowansdairy
@pearcafe
@MontpelierBsmt
@EssexEating

Pictures from Ms Marmite's site, and @MontpelierBsmt's twitter feed