I do like to support local businesses as much as I can. This led to saturday when it gave me great pleasure to head to Epping for a Home Grown Kitchen pop up evening. This event was hosted by Danny Lee and Phoebe Goulding who met when they were employed with the Galvin group. At the moment while they’re in the process making adjustments to their personal lives they’ve decided to host a series of pop up evenings as well as other catering events.
They post the menu a few weeks in advance which gives you the opportunity to view before deciding to make a reservation. The menu consists of a cocktail , canapés , three courses and petit fours to finish. There is also the opportunity to purchase a bottle of red or white wine or their more than happy if you decide to bring your own. The menu is priced at sixty pounds per person and as experienced on saturday we thought was excellent value for money.
So now let’s move to the evening itself which started with a fabulous welcome from Danny and Phoebe before escorting us to our table in the corner giving us a great view not only of the restaurant but of the kitchen where we could see chef Danny at work. This was followed by our welcome Blood Orange Moscow Mule cocktail.
The evening then started with a fabulous selection of Canapés of a Potato with herb emulsion , Chicken Liver Parfait and Rhubarb Tart & Cod Brandade that were all delicious. Before our first course Phoebe came over with our choice of wine that was a big and bold Barossa Valley Plum & Pepper 2017 Shiraz. This was followed by some addictive and delicious Beer Bread with onion and caraway seeds.
This led us on to the first course of Spiced Pumpkin Veloute , nduja brioche and westcombe cheddar where the flavour combinations worked perfectly together making it an fantastic dish to start. Next to come was Cured Hiramosa Kingfish with buckwheat blini , pickled daikon , yuzu and shallot dressing that was an absolute delight and refreshed the palate nicely.
Now it was time for the main course and a heavenly dish it was to. The Braised Hereford Beef Cheek with polenta , caper , raisin and root vegetable was fantastic. We then finished with a fabulous dessert of Valrhona Caramelia Chocolate with banana jam , sesame tuille and chantilly cream.
We ended with a selection of Petit Fours to round an absolutely delightful evening. Danny and Phoebe are wonderful hosts and create a really nice friendly atmosphere amongst all the guests. The food inspired by chef Danny was fantastic so I would highly recommend looking out for any of their future events.
Thank You Danny & Phoebe for a fabulous evening and look forward to seeing you both again soon.
My Hospitality Life 