Grace Dent’s 7 Bites of London

In London, eating out usually means heading to a local spot, with each neighbourhood claiming to have their own extraordinary eats. With foodie culture exploding over the last few years, each neighbourhood has its own distinct flavour that is hard to beat.

We knew we didn’t want to appropriate what makes each local place so special so we planned to work in collaboration with our favourite chefs from all pockets of London to make sure we got the night right and created a truly collaborative menu.

Supper Club: Grace Dent’s 7 Bites of London

We brought the best neighbourhood bites under one roof, to curate a diverse tasting menu that reflected all parts of London. The evening saw 7 chefs-of-the-moment unite from across London share their favourite dishes from their menus, from nduja croquettes to cauliflower shawarma, salmon sashimi pizza to taco mille-feuille with vegan cream.

Community was a hugely important element. Luckily, our original concept was totally embraced by critic and food writer, Grace Dent, who became a key collaborator and our host for the evening. Grace turned our supper club into a dialogue with each chef, allowing them to share their story and their own unique take on each dish.

Guest chefs included Josh Katz (Berber & Q, Hoxton), Selin Kiazim (Oklava, Hackney), Meriel Armitage (Club Mexicana, Seven Dials), Nicholas Balfe (Salon, Brixton), James Cochran (1251, Islington), Scott Hallsworth (Freak Scene, Soho) and Pip Lacey (Hicce, Camden).

Our multipurpose space had previously hosted other stand-alone events, from a Little Mix gig to a live audience recording of Fearne Cotton’s ‘Happy Place’ podcast with Mel C. But with 140 guests over two nights we managed to turn a large capacity space into an intimate supper club, with large, communal tables positioned to listen to the conversations on stage. The interviews were broken up with musical interludes provided by Juliette Ashb, which allowed guests to get to know each other.

We also brought guests together during our dessert course, the seventh and final on the tasting menu, giving 7 diners a golden spoon. When the time came, they were asked to approach a work-station. Mimicking their inner TV chef, they prepared a version of the desert. Live streamed around the room, the rest of our dining guests cheered on their efforts, allowing a little taste of the action to be channelled through our sous chefs in the making.

Tickets for this event were sold on the website on a first-come, first-served basis. Having sold out in 30 seconds, we ran the evening a second time.

Other food and drink touches throughout Curiosity Rooms also drew on our ethos of community, collaboration and local tastes. We brought in top coffee roasteries from around London to run our pop-up cafe over the five weeks. Wandsworth Common’s Flotsam & Jetsom, Leytonstone’s Perky Blenders, and Peckham’s Old Spike brought the best in bespoke beans and dropped them into the centre of town, finally giving central London access to a decent coffee. Elsewhere, Joe’s Teas created a personality quiz to find guests their perfect brew in a custom-made cafe painted in pastel pinks.

Alongside our collaborative supper club, these beverage pop-ups reinforced Curiosity Rooms as a destination that encouraged repeat visits and clocking up Regent’s Street’s longest dwell time by far at an average of 21 minutes and encouraged audiences to come back time after time.