Quality Wines is bringing back its Quality Wines & Friends Sunday series for a second round after selling out last year. Head chef Nick Bramham has invited seven chefs to join him in the Farringdon kitchen on the last Sunday of each month from April to October, to collaboratively build six- to eight-course menus. “It’s a real privilege for me and my team to work alongside them for a couple of days as we prep, chat, laugh and learn from one another then execute the most epic of Sunday lunch services which inevitably turns into a bit of a party,” Bramham tells Broadsheet.
The series kicks off on April 26 with Iranian American cook and writer Anna Ansari, whose work digs into the cuisines and migrations of the Silk Roads. Next up, in May, is Rahel Stephanie of Indonesian supper club Spoons, followed by the Japanese home-style cooking of Tokyo-based cook Millie Tsukagoshi Lagares. July sees the Irish powerhouse behind Cafe Cecilia Max Rocha step into the Quality Wines kitchen, and in August Jack Coghlan, the chicken-wrangler behind East Dulwich rotisserie diner Norbert’s will take his turn. Former Ottolenghi Test Kitchen cook and author Ixta Belfrage arrives in September with her signature blend of Brazilian, Italian and Mexican cooking. And the sessions end on October 25 with ex-Sardine owner, current Garden Museum Cafe head chef Alex Jackson. Quality Wines drinks boffin Marcos Spyrou will curate a range of drinks to pair with the food.
Bramham says the sessions are split 50/50 between the Quality Wines DNA and that of the guest chefs. “We have a rolling dialogue in the weeks and months running up to the event about the dishes we want to serve, what’s in season, and how best to fuse our shared sensibilities, with the aim to design a perfectly balanced all killer no filler menu.”
It gives him the opportunity to temporarily steer away from the venue’s typical Med-focused menu and “hop around the globe each month”. But ultimately, it offers the chance for theft. “The whole thing is actually just an elaborate ruse so I can steal their ideas.”
The Quality Wines & Friends Sunday series runs from April 26–October 25. Tickets are £55 for six to eight dishes, and Ansari’s tickets go on sale at 9am on March 26 via Open Table.
