Low Down from Hoxton FM and Janan Loves!

Sunday, 5 August 2012

Low Down from Hoxton FM and Janan Loves!

Well, hell's bells, the last 3 months has ranged emotionally form the sublime to the ridiculous, from relief to utter consternation and, frankly, disbelief!! Sometimes you just have to "Stand facing the sun, and all the shadows will fall behind you!" as a good friend, John, once said to me, the irony at the time is that we were living in Manchester - not exactly known for its sun!

Now that's what I call sunshine!!! . . . : )

Having said that, that's exactly what ferdiesfoodlab is all about: making your own sun! Good company, good food and drink and new people to talk to and engage with!!

A few banquets have gone by since I last wrote about one; this particular night I had 8 members of my family coming from Spain to the banquet they're all excellent cooks - so no pressure there then! As well as that, we had the lovely Janan Jay from Hoxton FM and the Londonist, and another returning group of friends, Steve you know who you are!! Another returning couple, Piedad and Howell James (Howell's a standup comedian check him out here!!) who's Spanish practice was very well received by the Spanish contingent!!!

Ribeye being seared ready for the oven!! People say some very nice things about our roast ribeye - served with white tomato emulsion and liquorice salt!

When you have returning guests and a new menu, and folk coming to interview your guests to find out what they think, you kinda want to get things right!! On top of that, I knew that some of the Spanish contingent's flight had been delayed. Stay calm, just do your thing, I thought! I went into the main hall, welcomed our guests and let them know we'd be starting 10 minutes late. A quick meet and greet, and then I seated everyone in the main banquet hall next door. Let the banquet begin!! Did I mention my mum and brother and his girlfriend were also in attendance! No pressure!!

That day we had Claudia from the White Room Supper Club helping us out as well as the hardcore:

Me doing cheesy photo pose - what's Ollie seen??? Ronald on camera!

Ollie, Joy and Ronald. I grabbed Claudia and we popped out back for a welcome fresh breeze and a cig! Having walked the menu, we went back into the kitchen and were flat out until the end of the night . . .

It was a pretty good one, the late contingent arrived only a few minutes after we started, and after that I was much more relaxed!!

Janan's a lovely person and you can hear two of the interviews she did about ferdiesfoodlab on one of her radio shows on Hoxton FM HERE!

This show kicks off with I Need A Dollar (tell me about it!!) By Aloe Blacc and follows with loads of cracking music in my humble opinion!! And some great interviews : )

Here are a few excerpts form the first interview with Siobhan Frost of Slanted Mansion.

"I'd heard about supper clubs while I was in New York"

About ferdiesfoodlab, aye : ) - "It's been wonderful!! It's just the perfect combination of good food, but amazing atmosphere, it's very relaxed and friendly, you don't feel very formal about anything but the food's AWESOME!!"

"I definitely do more! Love it!
Definitely worth checking out!
Everything has been perfect!
Recommend to everybody!!"

All I can say is thanks so much for your comments, Siobhan!! I am so glad you had such a good time : ) and you are most welcome to come back! (or not - there are quite a few really good supper clubs out there!) I'd love to know how we compare - yiiiikes!

Comment from folks from the evening:

"To achieve excellence / perfection an 8 o'clock start would be desirable.
Other than that, as before
EXCELLENT ! the MEAT was fan . . . . f…cking fantastic!!
GO FURTHER SIMON
HOWELL

My compliments to the chef !! . . . and your helpers
Caesar

The dessert: de muerte!! OK
(Trans: The dessert: to die for!! OK)
Raquel

Really enjoyed the tortilla, thought the popcorn dessert could have come with a waffery side although the cookies were lovely and buttery. Overall a brilliant meal + evening
Brialliant review + inventive food.
Jorge

(What about a waffer thin mint? Monsieur? ferdie)

The olive ganache was excellent!
Simeen

Thanks for a wonderful
evening =)
The food was superb.
MS.

Fantastics food overall, loved the salad, and the sweet potato was great in the tortilla.
Liquorice for the beef was stunning!!
Overall a cracking meal and much respect for it!
Dan . . . .- - - ^ ^ ^
PS the tomato consome? was amazing!

(? - YES it's a consomme - some might call it an essence!! ; ) - ferdie )

LOVED the chorizo salad the food was fabulous, even dessert which has never been my favourite!
Thanks for a fab evening
KT

Cambodian Chorizo Salad - a foodlab signature

I think your food IS amazing!
YUMMY! Watcha. xxx
COMING AGAIN!!

Nat & Warwick
+
PS:- invisible tomato was lovely + invisible

What can I say? I'm blown away - it's always so nice to get such great feedback.

Thanks so much!!
ferdie XX

You can tell it's been a nice vibe when people don't want to leave and this night was no exception! I love it when I get a chance to socialise at the end of the evening, so long as the kitchen is cleaned down, then I can relax and enjoy people's company. A little piano, a sing-song, and a glass of wine - result!!