Dear all, I had a great start to the weekend. I went to a "soirée provençale" in Hamburg on Friday night. It was organised in the French café called Metropolitain that I already presented on the blog in December - you can read more here. It was the French concept of "table d'hôtes". Our hostess was the French cook Eve based in Hamburg. Table d'hôte literally means "the host's table" in French. The term is used to denote a table set aside for residents of a guesthouse. Everyone sits down around a large table and makes small-talk. It is not like in a restaurant, there is only one sitting, the price is fixed and the menu set in advance. The theme of the evening was Mediterranean cuisine. We had taboulé to start with, an aioli - a speciality from Marseilles with cold fish, vegetables and a garlic mayonnaise - perfect for the hot weather we are experiencing, and a lovely fruit salad with a madeleine to finish with.

We sat at a table with 15 people in front of the Café Metropolitain and the atmosphere was great, we met lovely people, shared a great meal, a mix of French and German conversations started around the table, mainly about food, as is traditional in France. It was like being in the middle of a Kinfolk dinner.

We all had a great night and I was very happy to help the organisers Melody, Ulrike and Eve with the flower decoration. Here are a couple of pictures of the flowers and the food:

The next Mediterranean "table d'hôtes" in Metropolitain will take place on 27th September. You can book on Eve's Website. Have a great day!

Elodie