This event was really very special indeed. April 6th is a day that Qype won’t forget any time soon as we descended on Fernandez & Leluu‘s supper club to meet supper club legend Jim Haynes, in conjunction with After Eight (Jim is the face of their latest ad campaign). And a legend he is.

Jim talked about how his supper clubs came about. “I had a house guest, she was a dancer, but she loved to cook. She wanted to repay me, so she cooked for my friends.” And the rest, was indeed history. Thirty years of parties, supper on a Sunday (every single Sunday save for the three weeks that Jim is in Edinburgh for the festival), friends, famous, foreigners. Family.

This is Uyen, of Fernandez & Leluu. They’ve been doing supper clubs for six months now, and they’ve quickly built themselves a very strong reputation for excellent food and company. And fabulous food it was too! Based on dinner party favourites from the last three decades, but with Simon and Uyen’s personal spin, nothing but yummy noises could be heard when we were presented with our starters:

(Photo credit, Kang from London Eater)

Summer rolls were a huge hit (even with the Qyper who doesn’t like pork), as was the terrine. And the wonderful dip that came with the prawns. But my favourites were the spring rolls. Definitely worth another trip to the supper club just for those.

(Photo credit, Kang from London Eater.)

Mains were just as well received with a gorgeous roast beef, with some of the tastiest mushrooms I’ve ever had. The potatoes were stunning. Everyone was very happy indeed.

All washed down with a yummy Bellini from Johan at Drinksfusion. He can make a damn good cocktail.

Dessert was a very pretty take on the classic bread and butter pudding. This yummy version was made with croissants, white chocolate and summer fruits. It disappeared very quickly indeed. I think Qype Queen Rachelle took this photo.

Supper clubs make people very happy indeed.

Smiles from The London Foodie, Luiz.

This photo sums up the whole evening for me. Laughter, silliness, being happy and having some darn good food. Jim Haynes talked about being an existentialist and living in the moment. “Whatever I’m eating, that’s my favourite food. If I’m eating ice cream, my favourite food is ice cream.”

So go live in the moment, and book yourself into Fernandez & Leluu‘s supper club, or get on a train and go and see Jim. Enjoy.

Massive thanks go to After Eight and their team at Grayling for helping organise this wonderful event. We’ll remember that night for years to come. Want to see more photos? There’s some more here, and an album on the Qype Facebook page as well.