About this Event
Do you share my everlasting love affair with eating and drinking and the establishments that serve them – be it a fine restaurant, a local pub or the café on the corner?
Are you keen to know about the who, the why and the when of how they got there?
Clerkenwell’s dining and drinking establishments have exploded over the last twenty years or so, but its roots go back over a thousand years! Let me take you on a journey from the distant past to the present day and introduce you to Clerkenwell’s history and culture through its food and drink.
I’m a former Pub Landlady and my love of food and drink goes back to an early age, so as well as giving you lots of information and history about the local area and its various enterprises that we’ll meet along the way, I want to give you some hints about making the best gin martini, a recipe for moules mariniere and the secret behind some massively calorific, but simply delicious confit potatoes.
We’ll also learn about how water from the well that gave this area its name was such a hugely important asset here and we’ll encounter quite a few characters too: hear about the sadly missed Russell Norman, founder of Brutto and Pulpo, and the inimitable Fergus Henderson and his partner, Trevor Gulliver - who introduced the world to the concept of 'Nose-to-Tail Eating'.
But for starters, we will visit the famous Smithfield Market, whose history goes back well into the Middle Ages, as do the Knights Hospitallers at St John’s Gate, where royal guests would have feasted well into the night!
And to bring us up to the present date, I’ll be showing you an almost impossible to reserve restaurant where only 9 guests dine each evening – talk about exclusivity!
But it’s not all fine wine and sophisticated dining – I’d like to introduce to some of the smaller establishments of Clerkenwell including some of its great pubs and also its smaller cafés – it’s the sheer variety of culinary and drinking places in Clerkenwell that makes it so appealing and captivating.
But there is more to the tour than just food history - we will also hear the story of the gin craze in the 18th century which nearly caused a social crisis and much of that gin was distilled right here in Clerkenwell. Plus would you like to know what makes the perfect pint or even the perfect Landlady or Landlord?
While this is not a food tasting tour, it’s ‘food, glorious food and drink’ all the way with a very good pinch of history and several pinches of culture + a soupcon of flair and a dash of drama added to the mix – well seasoned and sometimes shaken and frequently stirred!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Farringdon Station, 42 Cowcross Street, London, United Kingdom
GBP 22.38
