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Saturday 5 March 2011

London Supper Club Review - The Nomad Chef


I recently visited Shelley's supper club in Holland Park. I had heard great reports from other supper club hosts regarding the Nomad Chef, and was pleased to finally meet Shelley and try her cooking.



Location

Set in a beautiful garden flat on a residential street in lush Holland Park, the Nomad Chef dinners take place in her spacious conservatory, with room for up to 22 diners.

The flat is in a Victorian building, and is tastefully decorated with elegant artwork scattered around the main rooms. The modern open-plan kitchen looks out both to the reception room where the guests arrive and mingle with an aperitif and canapés, and the conservatory in which they are seated for dinner.


Food

I was intrigued to see Shelley's menu for the day, and pleased to see a strong influence of Central and South America with items like garlic soup, ceviche and tamales.

As the guests arrived and mingled in the reception room, we were served a canapé of "Spicy Okra", served in paper cones with a chilled glass of Prosecco. The okra was deep fried in a lightly spiced batter. It was crisp and delicious, and I kept going back for more. I am sure I had more than my fair share but Shelley didn't seem to mind!

As we were seated, we were served a flavoursome "Sopa de Ajo" (Garlic Soup). With a intensely rich garlic flavour, the soup was enriched with cubes of fresh tomato and avocado and cheese. It was comforting and refreshing, with fresh citric flavours.

To accompany, we had "Swordfish Ceviche". Thought to be of Peruvian origin, it is made from cubed raw fish pickled in lime juice, served with a variety of vegetables according to which version is being made. Shelley served it attractively in crisp pastry cases.


For the main course, we had a selection of small delectable morcels. These included "Chicken Parcels" - these were well seasoned, and moist having been steamed in baking paper parcels; "Stuffed Courgettes" with rice; the star dish was the "Mushroom Tamales". A combination of flavoursome mushroom and cornmeal steamed in maize leaves, these were dainty and delicious.

For dessert, we were served "Orange, Ginger, Cranberry Steamed Pudding". The aromatic pudding was served with sour cream, and was a suitably warming end to a winter's evening.

Drinks

The Nomad Chef Supper Club is BYO and charges no corkage. On arrival, Shelley served her guests a glass of a deliciously chilled Prosecco on arrival at no extra cost.


People

Originally from the USA, Shelley has lived in London for many years. She is a very open, charismatic and thoughtful host, and will go the extra mile to make her guests feel welcome.


Our table had a mix of interesting people of different nationalities and background. Lovely May from Slow Food Kitchen accompanied me and Dr G. We also shared our table with an English yoga instructor (Shelley's late son's best friend), a German translator and a Norwegian financier.

Cost: £30 per person, plus £1.40 booking fee with EventsBrite.

Likes: great cooking, interesting mix of people, elegant setting, very charming host.

Dislikes: I left feeling that main course portions could have been a little bigger, or that seconds might have been offered.

Verdict: The Nomad Chef is another interesting and cosmopolitan addition to the London’s supper club scene, and is one of very few in West London. I loved Shelley's cooking, her warmth and endearing personality. Highly recommended.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout out Luiz! It was a pleasure to have you and I hope you will come back again soon!

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  2. Nice to see May and Gerald :) Looks like a lovely evening.

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  3. I spot some familiar people in those pictures! Great to have a supper club in West London as we are lacking them I fear.

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  4. Looks great! Can you recommend any others? I've been to saltoun supper club (http://www.eatwithyoureyes.net/) which was great, also checked out A Taste Full Space - which is really cool, art meets good food in cool spaces (http://www.atastefullspace.com/)

    But always on the hunt, anyone got any suggestions?

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  5. Of all, garlic soup drove my attention the most so much that I am going to cook it in the coming weekend. Cheers to all your fantastic recipes.

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