The 18th Restaurant, hosted by Anne Apparu, is held every month on the 18th, at a different location.
In August (I have a lot of blogging to catch up on...) Apparu opened up her Brooklyn Heights home to fellow guests.
The dinner started with mingling, drinks and snacks in Anne's lovely backyard.*
Her dishes were befitting to her style...bohemian...rustic ...kind of like your grandma's cooking, as Anne describes it.**
Appetizer: goat cheese, figs, and hearty home made bread. Best of all her dishes!
Fresh tomatoes, radishes and cucumber, served in a Spiderman bowl. I liked the Spiderman bowl a lot (no sarcasm). It fit in with all the mismatched chairs and quirkly silverware--Chinese take out chopsticks.
Zuchinni Flan: It looks weird...and thats sad because I am a total sucker for presentation...and texturally felt weird too. But smelt good and tasted okay?
Blue Fish Tagine: Beautiful broth and chunks of tomatoes, zuchinni etc....really the flavors were incredible. But I tend to eat with my eyes first. And the presentation reminded me of a soup kitchen.
Dessert: Nectarine Tart. This was delicious. Buttery crust, sweet glazed nectarines...yum! ***
Contact: the18threstaurant@gmail.com for next months invitation.
So if youre wondering what all those asteriks are about, heres why I have them:
I admire anyone who is able to bring together a gathering of people to share good food. I honestly think that every supper club is great and unique in their own way...its your supper club, you run it the way you please. I am only here to blog my own experience. ...And my experience based on this particular host, food and environment will not be the same as yours since each location, menu and environment is always different.
*The only time the host acknowledged us as guests was while collecting money...right before we were allowed to choose a seat at the dinner table...right before we even ate... May I suggest collecting money after dinner or investing in PayPal instead? And also holding a quick conversation instead of...."Would you like to pay now". I obviously have a picture of her sitting down in front of me smoking, talking and smiling-- but this is only because AA flagged her down and reintroduced everyone. I know, shes very shy...Im just saying.........
**There were no menus printed out to guide us as we ate; only a small sign written up hastily and illegibly by the door. The dishes were served family style and dropped at the table with no introduction. When asking the one friend helping out Anne what ingredients were used, we got the reply "I dont know". Great. Continue eating...
***Some guests walked out and left early not encouraged by their experience here, and I can not blame them. If I wanted to eat at a restaurant where food came out at different times for different tables, I would be at a restaurant. If I wanted a pile of food thrown at me, I would have just hired you as a caterer. The 18th Restaurant kind of sucked the romance out of being at a supper club.
The 18th Restaurant has been written up with much ethusiasm by Eating is Art and The Times. But my experience was lackluster.
