#2
The bring a plus-one one. Notes & photos.
October 2022 - Dalston, London: The compliments I got for Sabbatum #2 were so gushing they made me blush. But I’m not letting it get to my head… I’m doing two more soon.
With #1 going well, all of a sudden I felt the pressure of a standard to live up to. I had thoughts popping up randomly in the weeks prior to #2 that something would go wrong. I reacted by making extra effort to ignore pressure and have fun putting #2 together.
So fun is what I had. It was helpful the menu, impressive on the eye, was relatively simple to prepare. I started prepping the food the day before and even with my day job taking up some time, I was able to relax with my girlfriend, Annabel, in the evening. Being rested for the next day was key and this was also a good time to brief my assistant on the work ahead.
From Saturday morning, having Annabel’s help gave us more wiggle room on prep time and kept me from getting too anxious. Her being around helped make the prep fun; we had a nice lunch, drank beer and played music. It reminded me of why I wanted to do a thing like Sabbatum in the first place. I love hosting people, but running around a kitchen with a smile is an adrenaline rush to relish.
And what were we preparing?
Starters
Challah and butter. I bought the challahs fresh from Daniel’s before closing for Shabbat on Friday and put them straight in the fridge until Saturday afternoon, keeping the silky doughy yummy yummy gorgeousness in place overnight. What else but divinity could explain the celestial pleasure of eating this bread?
Some deconstructed tzatziki: mini minty cucumbers served with garlic yogurt. It was good.
A lot of grilled artichokes with gremolata and a lemony za’atar dip. (A note for next time, before I forget: artichokes are a pain in the ass. They’re messy, need to be cooked a million ways (two), and go brown fast. Baby artichokes, which were the original plan, would work much better but are very expensive and quite hard to find in the right quantity.)
Mains
Asian risotto: spring onions instead of white onions, sushi rice instead of Arborio short-grain, and sake instead of white wine. Japanese and Italian cuisine combined? It’s a party in the mouth.
Miso aubergine. A middle-class dinner party staple that accommodates all our vegan friends.
Sweet seared teriyaki tuna with sesami seeds and spring onions. Sensational.
Sweet
Brownie cheesecake served with raspberries. This show-stopper is a cheesecake on a brownie base. I googled “crowd-pleasing desserts”. It pleased.
Berries with dairy-free cream.
And what were they saying?
Descriptions of the food served, overhead from the kitchen:
“Sublime”
“Oli outdid himself”
“Truly amazing”
“Tuna slapped hard”
“Incredible”
“Fuck me. Insane. Beyond insane actually.”
The People: everyone invited had to bring a plus one
I invited ten friends from a variety of contexts in my life who each had to bring someone else I didn’t know. The final group radiated an atmosphere perfect for a Saturday evening dinner. A mix of the intimate comfort of dinner with friends and the excitement of meeting new people in close quarters.
I heard from the kitchen that familiar chorus of conversation where words become non-decipherable, but laughs stand out.
I learned that not everyone was able to meet because half of the long dinner table sat up against the wall, making it hard to speak to others further down the table or move around mid-meal. I served a Moscow Mule to everyone on arrival for some mingling early on, but this reception of sorts wasn’t enough. I’m thinking next time, we’ll rack a round of shots prior to the meal to loosen everyone up, elongate the pre-meal time and get more people clinking glasses.
One friend said they met more people helping to clean up afterwards than during the meal itself. Initially, I didn’t like people helping. I wanted to look after them as my guests. But it created a really cool atmosphere - a production line at the dishwasher and guests carrying plates bumping into the strangers who had sat out of reach. We all did a shot like restaurant staff after a successful service.
So it made me wonder: can we deliberately integrate guests cleaning up into each Sabbatum supper? Like a rite of passage for attending. Maybe newcomers have to help out while regulars relax? It’s homely, surprisingly fun and… saves me a load of time.
The music
“The two things you can’t fake are good food and good music.”
— Etta James
1/ Aperitif
2/ Wine
3/ Digestif
“Ahhh to be young!” - My Dad
I now know that the more fun I can have, the better my guests’ experiences will be. I was so happy to see them all genuinely enjoying the food and vibe. I wouldn’t have been able to do it as well without Annabel. It seems these nights are impossible to pull off alone, which is maybe why I blush so hard at all the praise thrown my way. Please keep it coming.
As we finished cleaning up around midnight - there were four of us left - and it was time to go party and celebrate a successful evening celebrating life. I got home at 4am. Tired.
Here’s to life,
— Oli
