Quality Wines & Friends, a Sunday Supplement.

The pull out, the long read, the supplement, welcome to the Quality Wines newsletter. Over the next 6 months on select Sundays we will be hosting a series of lunches with invited chef friends (what a group!) to cook alongside Nick & the team. Together they will be serving 6-8 dishes rooted in our guest chef’s food & shared sensibilities of good food, times & wines.

First we welcome back Tom Zahir on the 25th of this month: the trailblazer behind itinerant Louisiana kitchen Decatur, Tom captures the essence of Southern US cuisine as a proud custodian of Cajun and Creole culinary traditions. Tom’s first pop-up here was in the Autumn of 2021. Covering Nick’s annual holiday, back in the dark old days where the facilities included 2 inductions, a toaster & an easy bake oven, 6 spoons, 2 front of house, jumpers for goalposts & a VHS of Red Dwarf Series 2. A grand reunion.

Hitting at QW near you over the rest of the Summer:

Adejoké Bakare – 6 July: self-taught head chef and owner of beloved modern West African restaurant Chishuru, Joké is the first black woman in Britain to be awarded a Michelin star. - click here to book

Sertaç Dirik – 27 July: co-owner and former head chef of iconic neo-ocakbasi Mangal II in Dalston, Sertaç cut his teeth in some of Copenhagen’s most prestigious kitchens. - click here to book

Dara Klein – 31 August: a second generation chef raised in her family’s restaurant with roots in Puglia & Emilia Romagna, Dara is a champion of regional Italian cookery and founder of cult trattoria Tiella. - click here to book

Boutheina Ben Salem – 28 September: French-Tunisian chef drawing from Tunisia’s terroir and matriarchal food ways, Boutheina cooks Mediterranean cuisine rooted in the traditions of the Maghreb. - click here to book

Melek Erdal – 26 October: an Alevi Kurdish cook and writer, Melek focuses on recipes that have been resilient across time and geographies, which tell stories and connect people - regional, humble, generous, and most of all delicious cooking. - click here to book

Some of these dates are already looking very busy as you may imagine, so book soon to avoid disappointment.

Special thanks to our very own Natalie Candlish for her superb poster art.

Hoping to see you all soon.

Marcos, Nick & the Team.