swper - the sequel

[swper]

Last  night we held our second ‘swper’. Having already got one under our belt I was really keen to see how this second evening would go and what similarities or differences might pan out. So....

 What was the same

The Guests  - Very fortunate to have great guests again!

The raucous laughter started at about 7.45pm and was still going on past 3am. Quieting only when a few guests burst into seemingly spontaneous, (beautiful I should add ) renditions of ‘Calon Lan’ and ‘Ar lan y mor’.

I was slightly disturbed by this, only because it reinforced my belief that every Welsh person in the world, except for me, can sing. Happily said guests did admit to being part of a choir which made me feel slightly better. Everyone really seemed to gel and as soon as they sat down were quickly sharing wine and stories.

Capital Investment - My need to ‘invest’ in certain non-food products to enhance the dining experience.

This time it was soufflé pots. The 20 or so ramekins I already own were deemed inappropriate, on the premise that they have sloping sides, and these horribly sloping sides might offend the guests.

I also thought it crucial that hosts and help should have matching aprons – these were duly purchased and put somewhere ‘safe’ ready for swper. This evening I have still yet to remember where said safe place is.

The Nerves – At 5.35pm exactly, I looked at the clock and thought ‘Why am I doing this... at what point did I turn into such a masochist?’ I did the exact same thing at the exact same time on the inaugural evening.

The Port Damage – How much Oxy-Plusing can one vintage linen cloth take ;-)

 What was different

The Guests – I had more time to chat last night.

Most of the guests admitted that as they hadn’t attended a supper club before, they were quite apprehensive about coming and hadn’t been at all sure what to expect.

What if the other guests were rude/obnoxious/boring or worse UGG owners*?

Happily they were all also unanimous in saying how much they’d actually enjoyed the experience, how remarkably ‘normal’ the other guests were and how they would definitely want to do it again.

In the Kitchen - Things went much smoother.

We were better organised and despite the fact that some of the dishes were more involved (can’t think why I thought soufflé was a good idea...) we were more focussed, particularly with a few prods from our experienced waitress – my lovely sister. As a result I was much happier with the food and the only thing that came back to the kitchen all night, was a couple of gherkins.

Me

As things were (slightly) calmer, it gave me and the OH time to stand back (in reality stand on the deck with a stiff Mojito after the soufflés had gone out) and take pleasure in the noise coming from the dining room, knowing (hoping) that we had given the people sat round our dining table, a really good night.

So there you have it. In the words of a certain celebrity chef. Swper – the sequel – done. What next? Well there’s a few spaces left on the 22^nd September and somehow we have managed to pick up  4 private dining bookings over the next couple of months. Oh and I have my eye on some vintage champagne cooler buckets..............

* No harm was intended to any UGG owners in the writing of this blog. Indeed I brought UGG conversations to a swift halt last night by producing my favourite pair of Kensingtons.

[swper]

Ah thks very much. I do blog ...swper.co.uk.Good luck for the 18th ..looking forward to hearing all about it :-)

[Scratch Secret Suppers]

That sounds like such a sensation night!  Made me wish I lived a lot closer.  Or even a little. 

Love the way you write about it too - do you blog?  You should, you have a great style.

Good luck with the 22nd.

M