Previously head chef at Whitby’s The Star Inn the Harbour, Matt now has a broader brief across the Star group of restaurants, so was the the obvious choice to front this first event that took place in the main dining room of the restaurant, though future fixtures will be in more intimate surroundings. The fifty pound cost gets you a set menu of six courses that you can enjoy with matched drinks for another forty quid, something I couldn’t resist taking up.

It’s been a little while since I’ve been to the Star, so it was a pleasure to get reacquainted with the airy, calming dining space that the supper club had taken over a decent chunk of. I’ve been to a few events in the past that have tried to do a large number of covers in one sitting and resulted in very late finishes, so I was eager to see how this one would pan out.

We were quickly directed to our table and after a discrete interval to grab drinks orders, Matt and the restaurant manager braved some public speaking to introduce the evening and our first course, a tart of white crab, cauliflower and Spanish blood sausage. Featuring some of my favourite ingredients, it was hardly a surprise to regret there wasn’t more of this dish, which judged perfectly the amount of the blood sausage, reminiscent of black pudding, that was needed to bring out the sweetness of the crab.

Continuing the hit list of my favourite ingredients, next to the table was a Lincolnshire Poacher and truffle toastie that was intended as a partner to a few scoops of pumpkin and nutmeg burnt cream. I seem to recall loving something similar to this toastie at Mr P’s Curious Tavern in years gone by and this one hit the spot just as effectively. If there was an unlimited supply by this sofa, then it would take me quite a long time to clean the grease off my laptop afterwards.

We continued with a course of cured cod loin with lemon and parsley which made good use of a shard of chicken skin for breadth, before indulging in a lamb dish of uncommon depth. This plate was a real treat that chucked plenty of black garlic into the mix along with red cabbage and a treacherously enjoyable jus. This combination of a finely layered terrine and a perfectly cooked piece of lamb shouted the old maxim “fat is flavour” at every mouthful and will be lodged in my memory for a good while.

Having cleared a path through the savoury courses, we were next presented with a roasted cobnut porridge that featured quince and honey. Desserts are unlikely to ever take precedence over savoury in my preferences, but this was original and packed with complementary flavours. Last up was caramel shortbread with creme fraiche ice cream and dots of a sharp citrus fruit based gel. The chocolate on this one was described as bitter, something that it delivered on notably. While certainly aggressively bitter, the ice cream and caramel did the hard work of tempering that to bring things back in balance.

That fire may have been the story of 2018, but it’s firmly in the past now, with events like The Star Inn the City Supper Club doing a good job of reaffirming the Star Inn the City’s place in York as one of the city’s most prestigious places to eat. With chefs like Matt behind the scenes, it’s got the best possible opportunity to cement its reputation. I’m looking forward to watching its progress continue in 2020.

Disclaimer: no charge was made for attendance, opinions are impartial

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The venue for this launch event was Lendal Cellars, somewhere that I’ve not been for a good while. Since its refurb a few years ago, it’s notably more salubrious and less damp smelling than previously so was a nicely subterranean way to block out as many external stimuli as possible and focus what really matters: cheese.

The evening started promptly, within a few minutes of the advertised time, with a brief introduction to Homage 2 Fromage and explanation of how the evening would run. Unexpectedly, we weren’t given any detailed information about the cheeses before we got stuck in further than direction about which rinds were to be avoided. With those formalities completed, we were directed to get our elbows sharpened in time for the shout of “Cheese!” that would inspire a free for all.

The eight cheeses chosen were pitched as a “Greatest Hits” selection that would include plenty of crowd pleasers as in introduction to the format before, presumably, future events feature more challenging and esoteric selections. There was certainly no shortage of cheese, with a correspondingly tiny chance of missing out. We were directed to take a thumb sized piece from each of the cheeses and this turned out to be sound advice… though some of our fellow diners must struggle to use cutlery if their thumbs really were that disproportionally large.

After roughly an hour of cheese based debate, the identity of the eight cheeses was revealed. We had at least identified the style, if not creamery of most of the cheese. Amongst my favourites were an aggressively scented soft Munster and Montafino Affine, billed as a triple cream blue. Charcoal Cheddar was a striking addition and it’d take a particularly cheerless sort to be disappointed by Colston Basset Stilton or Montgomery Cheddar. A light brie (not as feisty as I prefer) and a Sao Miguel from The Azores also featured along with a Kit Calvert Wensleydale. We were told that this is the only unpasteurised Wensledale available and it was certainly distinctive, its bolder flavour leading to our failure to identify it without direction.

With the explanations out of the way we were left to our own devices to work through as much or little of the generous stocks of cheese available. To facilitate the cheeses were generous quantities of crackers, bread and chutneys. You could spot the repeat visitors by virtue of their supplementing these with a few of their own treats. Next time I’d certainly bring along a few olives, sun-dried tomatoes and so on to cut through the fat content.

With tickets to these events coming in at roughly £15, it’s a very easy experience to recommend. That’s not a large amount of money for a large quantity of good quality cheeses; this certainly isn’t a formal selection of meagre tasting portions. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for opportunities to explore more cheeses with these guys and strongly suggest you do too.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for my attendance. Opinions are impartial.

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Since then, Sara Danesin-Medio has built a strong reputation as chef and food consultant while also continuing her well-regarded supper club right here in the centre of our fair city. Last week, she had two cancellations and Mrs YoaF and I were lucky enough to be able to drop in at short notice.

On arrival (through the wrong door, sorry) I made friends with the house cat, tactfully declining to mention any of the YoaF cats, and moved through to say hi to Sara, who gave me an enlightening talk on risotto rice that underlined her commitment to detail.

Hosting duties passed on to her husband, Sara made herself free to concentrate on the food while the group made each others’ acquaintances. Being a late addition to the group, we could have ended up out on a bit of a social limb, but as the food started to arrive, our neighbours made us welcome, offering up plenty of their (very pleasant) wine to facilitate our induction to the group, despite some differences of opinion on the necessities of fox hunting.

Time for something to eat: quail eggs with truffle came together for the amuse-bouche, and thankfully not “over-truffled” for the sake of exuberance, it gave an indication of well-balanced dishes to come.

The main attraction was fillet of venison on a bed of smooth mash aside root vegetables. Sticky jus, tender meat and a wonderful medley of flavours not dominated by the meat made up a well-balanced plate that triggered silence around the table.

The starter was a partridge risotto of surprising lightness. I’d love to be able to recount the details imparted to me by Sara of the striking differences in risotto rice grains, but my ability to absorb information proved somewhat less than that rice taking in stock, so I’ll just report that Sara knows her rice, and indeed her pigeon. Perfectly seasoned meat presented with expert care on a well-judged dollop of risotto lived up to the ingredients wonderfully and served to further heighten expectations.

It should be noted just how well service went. I can reliably make it across a room holding two mugs of tea, but for a single server to clear covers in double figures without throwing anything at anyone or burning himself is a decent feat, and one which thankfully allowed a main course to drop in front of us after no more than a civil pause.

As the evening drew to a close, only desert remained. I’m pretty confident that my sweet tooth was the one brutally wrenched from my jaw with a sickening crunch by my ‘dentist’ in 2002 so, while I appreciate the skill in such dishes, my expectations of shock were as low as ever. Armagnac parfait kicked those expectations into check rudely, textural contrast with a crumb scattered on the plate leant depth, while the parfait itself balanced sweetness against depth of flavour wonderfully.

We had a marvellous evening, ate marvellous food, drank marvellous wine donated by new friends and were able to walk home. Sara makes wonderful food and it’s a pleasure to be in her home with new acquaintances. I also elicited opinions from a couple of friends who’d previously visited; their thoughts are as telling as mine.

“It was very tasty and we had a lovely evening. Her husband was a great host. “

“Very tasty. It pretty much embodied what I envisaged a good supper club to be like. Their house was perfect for the job too!”

If not me, listen to them. I bet Caroline Flack hasn’t heard of us either, but I’d wager we know food in York better than her, regardless of having been on that there telly.

Disclaimer: Sara Danesin-Medio asked us to attend at a reduced cost after those cancellations and, perhaps, hoping that I would say nice things here. She made no specific editorial requests and clearly, her confidence was justified.

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Generally hosted in someone’s home, a supper club lets you sample their food in return for a suggested donation – not a fee, that would imply compliance with hygiene rules incompatible with a domestic environment amongst other things – along with a few other lucky strangers. One of the features of the York Food Festival is a ‘Dine at my table’ option that lets York’s residents open up their homes and publicise it in conjunction with the wider festival. That publicity finally pushed me into getting on board.

I selected Set the Table supper club on the basis of the host’s training under Yotam Ottolenghi and quickly emailed a request for a seat. Slightly less quickly, I realised that it was clearly fully booked already… and hastily changed the date.

Conveniently located (for me) near Fulford School, we found ourselves rather early in our eagerness to eat. No problem though; a quick half in the Plough put us back on schedule, though sadly their pub cat wasn’t to be seen. A friendly welcome from hosts Becky and Matt assured us that we were in the right place as we got straight into canapés of roast beetroot, caramelised onion and fig tarts alongside delicately spiced lavosh (seeded crisp bread). The Viognier we’d picked up on the way from the York Beer & Wine shop proved superb, and a good basis for the evening was formed. More guests arrived in due course to make up the evening’s full complement of nine people and we took our seats.

The wooden clothes pegs securing our napkins were impossible to put down between courses, so thankfully we got our first plates quickly: carrot and butternut fritters with a sharp lemon and coriander yoghurt dressing that were quickly demolished by everyone and raised expectations of the next course even higher. Pleasant small talk pushed to one side, we got stuck into the mains: arancini formed of quinoa (go on, admit you can pronounce it) and goats cheese… those expectations were easily beaten.

With just dessert left to summit, I enjoyed the plum, pistachio and coconut cake, despite my pathological plum aversion. Coffee and chocolates rounded things out and we were away. Returning to the ugly issue of price….twenty five quid. There’s little point discussing value relative to a restaurant. Becky’s food speaks for itself and is comfortably on a par with anything I’ve had served in York, and the experience notably more intriguing. There’s of course an inherent risk that someone awful will turn up and ruin the whole evening but what’s risk without reward? Becky is clearly a talented cook and, based on our experience, these events seem unlikely to tempt the truly antisocial. A unique opportunity to meet new people over fantastic food that I can’t recommend attending enough!

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