THE ART OF DINING 80s OFFICE PARTY

Last Thursday I had all the fun with some of my favourite people at The Art of Dining's 80s Office Party pop up dinner/party. Taking place in The Rose Lipman building on De Beauvoir Road, the place had been transformed into an actual 80s office space. Desks made up the tables, and projectors, photocopiers and filing cabinets were strewn around the room along with all the office supplies, all of which had been designed by Alice Hodge, one half of The Art of Dining team. It was the most dramatized pop up I've been to and they pulled it off so well. The night was led by Amanda Bellingham - "The Margaret Thatcher of Condiments" - a fictional female powerhouse and boss of The Pickle Company Ltd, who led us through tasks such as naming her new pickle company and drawing portraits of her that were then projected on to the wall. Her antics were great as in between course fillers and kept us occupied and very entertained.

But as always it's the food that really makes or breaks a night for me, and The Art of Dining did not disappoint. The five course office inspired menu has been created by head chef and the other half of the Art of Dining team, Ellen Parr who trained at Moro. The food was excellent, with every course delivering.

We started with "black coffee", a mushroom broth with Jerusalem artichoke ravioli and crispy sage. The ravioli was delicately thin with a rich filling and the broth was so punchy. I think we all refilled our office mugs with extra soup as it was so good.

The second course was "elevenses" - smoked haddock and caper sausage roll with tarragon mustard and green bean salad. The mustard sauce on the beans cut through the buttery pastry and its delicious filling. I adore caperberries so was very happy to have a whole one on the plate. I was about to write that this was my favourite course, but I honestly couldn't choose a favourite as I enjoyed them all so much.

 

Next up was "packed lunch" -which was the fanciest packed lunch I've ever eaten! Pickled cucumber and braised pork bao bun with crispy apple and coriander salad served in a plastic apple. The bun was so light and fluffy and full of rich, sticky pork filling while the salad added the perfect crunch to the dish.

 

The last of the savoury dishes was "tea". A perfectly cooked tea smoked quail was served with white wine braised potatoes, pickled butternut squash and sweet herbs. How they cooked all those individual quail to perfection is beyond me but they were juicy and so tasty. I may have picked the whole thing up with my hands to get the last bits of meat off the bone....!

 

Finally it was "biscuits" which I did actually struggle with. Not because it wasn't delicious, it was Turkish coffee cake, whipped goats cheese and caramelised plums, but because I'd just eaten a whole bird plus three more courses. I had a bite of pudding and wished I had a little lid to pop on the top of it so I could take it home with me.

The Art of Dining was so much fun, and an amazing culinary achievement of the day's food reimagined into restaurant worthy dishes. There are a few tickets left for some of their remaining dates - 30th and 31st March and 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th April, but be quick because they will sell out fast. It's £55 a head for a welcome drink, five courses of incredible food and entertainment, and is worth every penny. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!