Feast with a Chef, Long Ashton Village Hall

Feast with a Chef
Long Ashton Village Hall, Keedwell Hill, Long Ashton, Bristol BS41 9DP
http://www.clarehargreaves.co.uk/feast-with-a-chef/

This is where Twitter comes into its own, without this gem of foodie knowledge I would have never found out about Clare's genius idea to bring chefs she's come to know through her work as a food writer to a sleepy village hall to cook a feast for hundreds.

I signed up to attend Clare's taste of the east feast cooked by Ramael Scully, head chef at Ottolenghi's NOPI in London (http://www.nopi-restaurant.com/). I booked this as a surprise for husband and collaborated with friends and Clare herself to plan an exciting evening.

We arrived at Long Ashton village hall without telling husband anything about where we were going and he was a little surprised to get out of the car and inhale these wonderful smells emitting from the hall. We walked in to be confronted by three long tables seating 150+ people all chatting animatedly about what was in store. We took our seats and studied the menu:

It looked absolutely delicious.

We managed to grab a sample of the bread and Rodda's Cornish butter which was lovely and before we knew it the spiced potatoes landed in front of us. The pastry was wonderful, crisp pastry, warmly spiced creamy filling and acidic sauce which cut straight through the creaminess of the potato filling.

Husband was then presented with a bottle of fizz to celebrate his birthday from Clare which was a really special touch which he loved and really appreciated.

The next course was the Octopus with red quinoa. There was no scrimping on portion size for this course. A giant hunk of perfectly cooked octopus; with minimal tentacles.

The following course was a bit hit and miss really; we all loved the beef cheek. It was divine, really soft and melt in the mouth but the fishy accompaniments in the form of the seaweed salad and mackerel sauce left us a little queasy. Personally I didn't really enjoy this course, but that's my personal taste and no reflection on the quality of the cooking.

The final dish in our feast was a pudding called Milk; three ways. This was reminiscent of an Eaton mess; but we couldn't really tell how the milk was presented three ways. It was quickly devoured though as it was an amazing tasting pudding.

We finished off with coffee and petit fours. Our plate came with a birthday message for husband, again a really sweet touch from Clare and the team.  The lemon petit four was my favourite and finished off an fantastic feast in style.

Clare managed to pull off a great event, I have no idea how the chefs managed to cope with such a large service with no hiccups. The waiters and waitresses were great, attentive and happy to help. We were treated really well by everyone involved and Clare made it extra special for us with all her birthday touches.

I wish her all the best with her next ventures - check out her website!