5 Loaves 2 Fishes
Friday, May, 31, 2019
7:30 PM – 11:30 PM
Leiths School of Food and Wine, 16-20 Wendell Road, London, England, W12 9RT, United Kingdom (map)
About the event
It often feels that our Chefs, headed by Andi Miranda, perform miracles with the food we manage to collect before each of our supper clubs. Sometimes without the basics of onions, garlic, butter, oil and milk they struggle to put together 3 restaurant quality courses for our guest – they always do it and how so!
This time we knew we’d get fantastic surplus food as we were collaborating with City Harvest London. City Harvest collect food that is not needed, food that would be throw away, from all kinds of places and luckily this event coincided with their team collecting from the Chelsea Flower Show. What perfect timing!
So, headed by Andi and working with 6 Diploma Chefs from Leiths School of Food and wine, we were able to put on a gourmet meal of 8 different dishes for 60 guests, in just 3 hours. Not quite feeding the 5 thousand but an incredible effort.
Our guests were a mix of paying guests, non-paying guests from 6 different organisations and guests of City Harvest – we wanted to showcase how their efforts can be used to the very best effect. I think we pulled it off. As guests arrived they were greeted by our Front of House team and provided with welcome drinks and amuse bouche before taking their places at beautifully laid tables in the Leiths main kitchen. The buzz was electric and guests introduced themselves to each other, found common interests and enjoyed sitting together to enjoy course after course of top class food.
The Leiths team excelled. It was a thrill to be working with the future chef stars of tomorrow. We had the best time.
A guest who had only ever eaten food from his homeland of Uganda explained how we found this ‘English’ menu fascinating. He explained that Ugandan food came altogether, meat, fish, vegetables, rice, in one huge portion. When he saw the many small plates we served he was surprised but also impressed – he said he enjoyed all the flavours and that he felt full and satisfied. He wants to come and volunteer so he can learn to cook the English way.
Another non-paying guest who’d enjoy a previous Mike’s Table came and helped in the kitchen this time. He wanted to give back. He was a brilliant. It’s not just our paying guests that volunteer!
Menu
Amuse bouche:
Lamb Lollipop with spicy dipping sauce or Crostini Fireball
Starter:
Smoked Salmon, Lobster Claw and pan friend Scallop on Cauliflower Puree
Asparagus with Poached Egg and Hollandaise
Main:
Oven Roasted Chicken on Bok Choi with Chasseur Sauce
Open Lasagne with Roast Vegetables
Dessert:
Selection of Cheeses with Chutney
Raspberry, Chocolate & Tofu Mousse with Clotted Cream
The Team
Of course, the evening couldn’t have been a success without our wonderful volunteering team.
Mike’s Table Chefs:
Andi, Daniel, Matt, Andrea, Anoop and Eve
Leiths Chefs:
Victoria, Ben, Charlotte, Camilla and Kat
Mike’s Table Front of House:
Louise, Mandy Brogan, Zaidee, Juno and Gus
Leiths Front of House:
Rosie, Victoria, Rob and Josie
Our Partners
A special thanks to City Harvest for the wonderful food they collected and donated to us! And a big cheer to our charity and organisation partners, without which the event wouldn’t have been possible!
Charity partners
Care, Grow, Live
West London Welcome
Yarrow
The Carers Network
Kensington & Westminster Mind
Host Nation
