Advent Feast
Friday 8 December 2023
83 Dalston Lane, London (map)
As advent started we came together with ‘hope, peace, joy and love’ for an evening to remember. And exactly 7 years ago, on 8 December 2017, we held out very first Mike’s Table at the Canvas Cafe, London. Cheers to us!
About the event
The festive spirit arrived at Mike’s Table! Place settings were laid with holly & ivy, tinsel lined the shelves and Santa hats were donned. It’s become a tradition to hold a raffle before we serve the pudding. This time the prizes were advent calendars and 9 year old A was delighted with his! A and his mum AB had had an horrendous journey across London with cancelled trains, full buses and were cold and late when they arrived. En-route A had asked if it was going to be worth it, should they give up and go home? Tucking into his soup, which he declared to be really yummy, his Mum asked him if it had been worth it, and he nodded delightedly and said it was. He high-fived the kitchen team before he left, Advent Calendar tucked under his arm, much warmer and happier than when he’d arrived.
The kitchen team once more performed magic with the lovely fresh ingredients generously donated by our food partners City Harvest. Nic was on soup duty, T made the vegan sauce and Daniel made the wonderful individual spicy puddings topped with blackberries foraged in the summer. M wanted to know more about the blackberry picking and when she heard that at the time two blackbirds were singing to each other she named the desert ‘The Singing Birds Pudding’. We’ll pass this on to Nigel Slater who’s recipe we used :)
The menu was creatively devised on the night by Andi, our head chef, using mostly surplus food kindly donated by City Harvest. The food is always within its used-by date and would otherwise be thrown away.
Menu
Welcome Drink
Mulled Wine or Warm Fruit Punch
Starter:
Roast Red Pepper, Heritage Tomato & Chilli Soup with warm garlic sourdough wedges (vegan)
Main:
Cima da Rappa with toasted Quinoa, Aubergine Wedges, Chickpeas and spicy mayo served with slow roasted Isle of White Cherry Tomatoes (vegan) or Pan fried Gressingham Duck Breast with Asian spices, plantain & wilted Swiss Chard & Curley Kale & a sweet and sour jus.
Desert:
Singing Birds Pudding - upside down spicy Blackberry puddings with custard.
The Team
Kitchen: Andi, Daniel, Nic, Alan and T
Front of House: Uli, Mike, Gus and Louise
Our Partners
As ever, we couldn’t do it without you:
Room to Heal St Joseph’s Hospice Prisoners Aboard Host Nation Nova New
Many thanks to our Food & Drink Donators:
City Harvest Uncharted Wines
Kind words from our guests
“This has been the best evening I’ve had since arriving in the UK. Thank you so much..“
