Manor vs Food – August Menu

Our big US inspired event is coming in a few weeks time and we can’t wait to share the menu with you all!

At Dinner at the Manor we love a bit (a lot!) of Man vs Food and this menu is a homage to all things U S of A! We’ve been playing with smoke, meat and cheese to recreate some unique flavours. Our guests are in for a real treat endurance test!

We’d love to know what you all think. I’m salivating already!

Don’t forget, if this tickles your tastebuds, we’ll be announcing our next wave of events on Thursday 1st August at 7pm!

 

A Persian Adventure In Moortown

It’s been a while since we’ve visited another supperclub, partly because we always seem to be running events when they’re on and partly because there haven’t been any new ones to try. Luckily there’s been a recent influx in Moortown in Leeds and word of mouth has finally got to us. Moortown’s a bit of a trek out from the Manor and even on our return our North Leeds taxi driver had never heard of the West Leeds suburb where we asked to be taken!

Anyway the first of our Moortown supperclub jaunts was to Afsaneh’s Persian Kitchen. Afsaneh is of Masterchef fame and her talents blew the minds of judges John and Greg but probably her nerves let her down on the day, this was the year that Shelina won. Thinking back to the programme, I was always impressed by Afsaneh’s dedication to her Persian roots. And going by the judges reactions, the flavours were as authentic as the dishes looked, and these were flavours I was keen to try.

New Dates Coming Soon….

Once again we’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of interest you lovely people have had in our little supperclub! We still love having diners old and new through the Manor’s door and we’ve still got lots of dishes up our sleeves!

Our new events will be released on 1st August at 7pm! We’ve got some fun themes lined up that we can’t wait to share with you! Be sure to read our event terms and conditions before you book on.

To be the first in the know, please be sure to subscribe to our blog using the sign up form on the right, that way you’ll get and email as soon as they are announced, or follow us on Twitter or our Facebook Page.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Thameside treats!

As part of our pilgrimage to the Hand and Flowers in June we thought we’d continue the eating by checking out the finest restaurants that nearby Henley on Thames has to offer. And as you’ll read, they did not disappoint!

Henley is a beautiful Thameside town with Georgian architecture, boutique shops and a full array of warm and inviting pubs. Our plan was to eat (and drink around) the place. Having done a bit of research there was no doubt that the most popular place was new kid on the block, Shaun Dickens at the Boathouse. This eatery is already number one on trip advisor and has only been open since April! Located right on the river in the centre of Henley, diners can sit in the clean and airy dining room or right out on the sun deck, which is exactly what we did!

The standard ala carte menu was fairly pricey and having already had our wallets hit by the Hand and Flowers the previous day we opted for the set lunch menu – which at £22 for 3 courses was undeniably good value. As we chose what to eat elegant slates of canapés were brought to us. These, as the rest of the menu went on to prove, showcased the kitchen’s ability at executing modern, stylish and innovative food. On offer was a cube of asparagus panna cotta dusted with bacon crumb, mackerel rillettes on crostini, and Lincolnshire Poacher toasts. All in essence very simple but full of flavour to excite the tastebuds for the rest of the meal.

The Hand and Flowers: Afternoon Delight!

This wasn’t any old Pub lunch, this was a two Michelin starred pub lunch! Last month we made a very exciting excursion to the Hand and Flowers in Marlow! The booking was made back in January no less (we could only get a lunchtime siting at that!) and eagerly anticipated our visit. As part of a foody weekend down south, this was to be the highlight!

I’m sure that our readers will know all about the Hand and Flowers. In short, it’s the only two Michelin Star pub in the UK, owned and run by household name and larger than life chef, Tom Kerridge.

Bridewell Banquet

I’m proud of Leeds. Over the past few years it has really embraced the alternative foodie scene. It’s the birthplace of Clandestine Cake Club and Homage to Fromage. Is home to countless supperclubs, including ourselves. And is now seeing the launch of exciting pop up restaurants. Loiners are really up for trying new culinary adventures and we love that we’re a part of it.

The latest addition to this vibrant and growing scene is ‘We the Animals’ (WTA)  – a Leeds collective of food and drink experts who have been running meal ‘experiences’ for the past couple of months. Their inaugural event was in the Trinity church (you know the one, famous for the shopping centre). We couldn’t go to that due to other plans but had not really heard much about it in the run up or after and so the mystery of WTA deepened. When it was announced that the follow up events would be held in the prison cells of Leeds Town Hall we jumped on the tickets!

The Bridewell Cells

Teatime Treats

As part of our summer schedule of events we thought we’d do a British inspired, ‘posh picnic’ afternoon tea. We’ve held a couple of afternoon tea’s in the past as private events and love the opportunity to bake, serve our guests and still have time for a night out afterwards!! We always feel the Manor is better suited to cosy winter nights, so an afternoon tea seemed apt in light of the scorching summers day we were being treated to this weekend. We were a bit worried that the weather might impede our guests’ appetites for cake and tea, but they did us proud!

We didn’t really use any cook book to specifically inspire this event. However our go to baking bible is Dan Lepard’s ‘Short and Sweet’, which is great for core basics such as breads, pastries and cakes. We love all the dainty things we get to make and bake for our teas, as well as all of the vintage china we get to display it on. There’s already talk of us doing an Autumnal tea for our next round of events so keep your eyes peeled if this tickles your fancy.

In classic British summer style we welcomed our guests with a cocktail of fruity Pimms punch. This was Pimms that came mixed with homemade elderflower cordial, sparkling water and lemonade. Glasses were crammed full of strawberries, lemon, orange and then some mint and elderflowers from the garden. Non drinkers had some sparkling elderflower cordial.

A Slice of Italy in Headingley – Salvo’s

Dan and I were invited to sample some of the dishes, along with other Leeds food types, that form part of the new menu at Salvo’s a couple of week’s ago. Now we have a confession to make from the start – neither of us have actually eaten properly at Salvo’s, (we will rectify this) even though we both spent a lot of time in our university days hanging around the Headingley area! Having said that I think we were more concerned with drinking at that point in our lives and food didn’t really play a big part!

Anyway, I’m digressing – yes we hadn’t eaten there before, but after meeting Gip and John Dammone, I have to say we will be back. Salvo’s is pretty much a Headingley institution and the brothers are happy for it to stay that way – they are proud to be a local restaurant, not a destinations restaurant with months long waiting lists, making it accessible to all.

Two spaces now available for our next event!!

PLACES ARE NOW FILLED!

Due to a last minute cancellation we now have two spaces available for our next event on Saturday 6th July 2013. This event is our British Summer Afternoon Tea and runs from 3pm to 5pm. Expect fruity, fresh flavours, homemade bread, jams, pastries and cakes and all the fun of the Manor! We’ve also procured a new gadget, so we’ll be showcasing our own smoked trout! Exciting! (Well, it is for us!).