A supper club at the Barnsbury Grocer

How many people do you know who have boring day jobs, but a dream to one day run a little deli maybe with a small cafe, just for local people, perhaps serving dinner every once and a while? Well, I won't say that Jeremy of The Barnsbury Grocer is "living the dream" because it appears to be bloody hard work, but I can't help but be a little envious.
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The Barnsbury Grocer is a gorgeous little place on Liverpool Road in Islington, away from the crowds of Upper Street, and providing the sort of space Islington's high street is lacking - a place where you can drop in for a coffee, cake, a light lunch and to pick up some provisions. The Barnsbury Grocer stocks all sorts of goodies - fresh bread, eggs, liqueurs, chutneys, cakes, and more. Jeremy's mum is even making Christmas puddings for sale in the shop! I have been enjoying the fruits of The Barnsbury Grocer the lazy way, as the wonderful Hubbub delivers from here, as well as from other independent food shops around Islington.
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When I heard the Barnsbury Grocer was hosting a monthly supper club I was super keen to attend. I grabbed a table and asked some friends and other people who we'd met through our supper club, including owner of Hubbub, Marisa. Once Marisa and I got talking we realised we had many people we wanted to ask to the supper, so very cheekily asked The Barnsbury Grocer if we could take all the spots.
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On a frosty night in November a group of 18 people descended on this supper club, looking forward to a night of fun, conversation and yummy food. We were not disappointed.
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On arrival we were greeted with a yummy cocktail of (I'm 80% sure this is right) prosecco & cranberry and we munched on popcorn before being ushered into the back room of The Barnsbury Grocer (which is the cafe by day). Here's what we ate:


Curried parsnip soup served in gorgeous little Marmite cups & saucers.
Endive salad with Dolce latte & toasted walnuts. The perfect mouthful - a combo of all 3 ingredients - was lovely.

Venison & mushroom pie with celeriac mash. Wow what gorgeous venison! One of the guests at our table exclaimed "I don't care if it is Bambi, it's delicious!". The venison was so gorgeously tender & flavoursome, whilst still remaining in lovely big chunks. My favourite course.

Baked apple with sultanas & mascarpone cream - a warming end to the meal.

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We brought our own wine and enjoyed excellent espresso to finish. The supper club was £25 per person. Jeremy came down from the kitchen after dinner and I really enjoyed speaking to him.

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The Barnsbury Grocer Supper Club is like an intimate pop-up restaurant serving excellent, simple British food - comparable to the top notch nosh you'd get at a lovely pub in the countryside but probably cheaper. The atmoshpere is not exactly like that of a supper club in someone's home, nor can it be - I understand that at the other supper clubs people have chosen to sit at individual tables rather than sitting together, which seems a missed opportunity because it's such a great space and it would be great for locals to sit around a big communal table together to chat - that's part of what supper club is all about!

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If you live nearby I urge you to get along to one of the upcoming suppers - whatever your experience, be it eating at a table for 2 with a friend, meeting strangers at a big communal table, or taking over the whole place with 20 of your nearest & dearest, the welcome will be warm, the food delicious, and the atmosphere buzzing.