Memorable Dinner Parties
Being a bad dinner guest, Big parties, Mushrooms in cocktails, Childcare in hospo, Cakes that are books, and more!
Hello everyone!
I can’t believe how far we are into the year already! I missed a week, so apologies for posting 2 articles in one week here.
Kate and I have been renovating non-stop on the houses we purchased. We only have a few more months before we’re back in Spain, so we’ve really just had our heads down lately. It’s been a very frilless, simple and hands-on few months, which has probably done more for my mind and my soul than I’m yet aware.
My thirties are starting to reveal the reality of seasons in one’s life. I had previously romanticized the notion of ‘seasons’ or chapters, but have more recently started to settle into really feeling those chapters. I used to try and mentally speed through times that I deemed less exciting or less notable. Now, I find more peace in them, I’m able to draw from the subtle energy they provide, and I’m able to see the balance they hold in the greater picture of life.
Everyone is talking about Under The Bridge at the moment, with Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough. I’m yet to watch it but seeing Lily Gladstone’s name around so much (apparently she was also snubbed at the Oscars) I was inspired to watch Certain Women.
And wow. What a performance. The last story which follows Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart is so beautiful and heartbreaking. I can’t tell you much about acting, but Lily Gladstone’s face conveys a million and one emotions, I’m still thinking about that final scene.
This week in Drink Seco we are talking about dinner parties, mushrooms in cocktails, childcare, cakes, and all the juicy things I’ve been reading. Plus there’s a recipe at the end for you all!
Let’s get into it:
The Childcare Conundrum
A New Cocktail Frontier
The Beautiful Salmon
Hungover Apologies
Memorable Dinner Parties
Big Deals, Big Parties, Big Dresses
What’s a Party Without a Cake?
Spicey Grapefruit Mezcal Paloma
The Beautiful Salmon:
I happened upon this piece in The Paris Review during a self-ordered ‘break’ to step away from the computer and work. Unsurprisingly to all, I could not sit in stillness for more than 15 minutes so I began glancing through their magazine/journal collection. As luck would have it, I was rewarded with this short story in The Paris Review (btw god bless libraries for getting these subscriptions).
The Beautiful Salmon by Joanna Kavenna shares the story of a disastrous dinner party. Funny, surreal, and not entirely unfamiliar, the salmon fiasco is a reminder that most of what worry about is unmemorable- especially if someone else makes a bigger drunken fool of themselves, (a role we should definitely be able to hire out for dinner parties). “This story is partly about a beautiful salmon, and partly about the question of uncertainty. It’s also about the past and how we can’t get back there, except in our minds, and how this means the past is always uncertain.”
You can read it here. Please do, it’s an incredible read.
Hungover Apologies:
Letters of Note provides endless little gems in my inbox. This one titled ‘I was intoxicated as to pass all bounds’ seemed very fitting after the short story in The Paris Review.
“It’s somewhat reassuring to know that over a thousand years ago, human beings were frequently making drunken fools of themselves at dinner parties and waking up the next day overcome with regret. In fact, this was such a regular occurrence in one region of China that a standard form letter of apology—pictured below—was created by the area’s beautifully named “Dunhuang Bureau of Etiquette,” copies regularly signed by hungover local officials and handed, with heads bowed, to disappointed dinner hosts. A ready-made apology and acceptance for the previous night’s bad behavior. This particular version, which even included a suggested response, was discovered in a cave in 1900 and has been dated to AD 856.”
Translation:
“Yesterday, having drunk too much, I was intoxicated as to pass all bounds; but none of the rude and coarse language I used was uttered in a conscious state. The next morning, after hearing others speak on the subject, I realized what had happened, whereupon I was overwhelmed with confusion and ready to sink into the earth with shame. It was due to a vessel of my small capacity being filled for the nonce too full. I humbly trust that you in your wise benevolence will not condemn me for my transgression. Soon I will come to apologise in person, but meanwhile I beg to send this written communication for your kind inspection. Leaving much unsaid, I am yours respectfully.”
While I’m thankful to have the days of hangover anxiety/regret behind me, I have to smile at the fact that humans have not changed. No doubt this letter template would’ve come in handy for us all at some stage.
Memorable Dinner Parties:
You can’t talk about fictional chaotic dinner parties without thinking of the Fleabag family dinner scene. Despite Andrew Scott’s calls for Fleabag fans to “go out and get some fresh air”, I will once again be bringing it into conversation.
This scene in My Best Friend’s Wedding is also up there.
Big Deals, Big parties, Big dresses:
To bring it back to reality, The Financial Times published an article about photographer Dafydd Jones’ photos from 1990s New York featured in his latest book New York: High Life/ Low Life. They’re brilliant. And as the heading suggests full of big parties, big personalities, big budgets, and big dresses.
They offer a wonderful glimpse into the luxury and energy of the ear.
“In retrospect, these pictures are already of a very different New York City,” Jones writes. “Only the dramatic weather has remained the same.”
The Childcare Conundrum:
This was a really interesting article in Madfeed about the dilemma of trying to find childcare that is inherent to the hospo industry.
It also provides some really interesting solutions and voices on how we should approach the issue and the opportunity it presents.
Childcare falls disproportionately onto women. In most cases, hospo hours aren’t conducive to easily raising kids, this might explain why there are fewer women in the profession, and also why they tend to earn less than their male counterparts.
“According to one British study, women hospitality workers in the UK are scheduled, on average, 19 hours fewer per month because of childcare demands—which translates to earning roughly £3500 less per year.”
In Denmark (and other Scandinavian countries - don’t they always seem to do things right?) cities have at least one publicly funded childcare center open 24 hours a day to help parents who work outside ‘regular hours’.
Interestingly, the owner of West-bourne Camilla Marcus saw this problem her staff and counterparts were facing and ended up creating start-up childcare ‘Vivvi’. “The restaurant purchased a block of credits that could be used in any of Vivvi’s centers, then distributed those credits to employees who needed them—at no cost to the staff.”
State and federal tax breaks helped West-bourne cover the expense. But Marcus points out that even without that assistance, the price of doing nothing would have been higher. “Replacing a team member who is at management level costs a lot of money. It’s much less expensive to provide the support services. When people asked me ‘How are you funding it?’, I would say, ‘You’re going to lose a lot more money if you lose that person you’ve trained up. You’re just not doing the math.”
Dixie Benca went even further and created childcare on her business’s premises, converting a spare room with facilities and hiring some skilled babysitters. “They briefly considered charging staff members who used the childcare but decided instead to make it a perk of working for the restaurant. “As soon as we advertised it, we started getting applications like crazy,” Benca says.”
They both found staff retention shot up, and staff were generally happier and more productive.
“A lot of us like the work,” says Benca. “But the conditions have to change. Yes, we choose to be in the industry, but we’re not machines. We still deserve some kind of normalcy.”
A super interesting solution which hopefully we will begin to see more of in the industry, or some change on a government level.
A New Cocktail Frontier:
Mushroom-infused beer, cocktails, and zero-proof drinks seem to be the new thing at the moment. Mushroom coffee has been booming on TikTok for boosting mood and cognitive function, and it seems to be making its way into the cocktail industry.
Mushroom-infused drinks can be traced throughout history but are relatively new to mixology. Considering the trend we are seeing with non-alcoholic drinks and soda I wouldn’t be surprised if they really take off this year.
Justine Lavenue owner of The Roosevelt Room notes “I think drinks these days set out for savory and umami notes… People are playing with olive brine, oyster shells and so on. Eventually, they become fixtures as cocktail ingredients. Salt had its moment, and now it’s kind of commonplace. And now we’re at mushrooms.”
The Insidehook offered some tips for concocting your own mushroom cocktails which I’ll share here:
Dried mushrooms work well for infusions (toss a handful into a bottle). Experiment with infusion time to find the intensity you seek.
Wash/scrub fresh mushrooms well before infusing
Aim for flavor-intense caps like lion’s main, trumpet, reishi or shiitake.
Consider seasonally available ‘shrooms, like morels, for an added touch of cool.
Do NOT harvest wild mushrooms, unless you’re very familiar (toxic and safe varieties can look very similar).
That said, Lavenue points out that infusions and tinctures using functional mushrooms are safe, unlike tobacco or activated charcoal, where dangerous chemicals may concentrate in an infusion.
For The Poet’s Muse, Lavenue and his team make a sort of fat-washed tincture out of sautèed mushrooms and gin. Figure about 30 chopped, sauteed Shiitake mushrooms per six ounces of gin.
When it comes to garnishes, consider aromatic and visual appeal. Cluster mushrooms like enoki and fan-shaped pink oyster work nicely.
What’s a Party Without a Cake?
"A party without cake is just a meeting." - Julia Child
Finally, you might have noticed the book launch trend where authors get their book covers made into a cake.
The Eater wrote about this phenomenon last year. “From popular fiction to academic releases, the book cover cake has become a publishing rite of passage. And with social media now fueling so much marketing and buzz, the photographable combination of a book cover and a cake is a clever form of promotion.”
This led me down the rabbit hole to discovering The Edible Book Festival! A celebration of books, cake, and a love of literature. Anyone can enter, the cakes range from book covers to puns and plays on the titles/narratives. It’s international and held on the 1st of April every year.
Also while we’re on cake-ish things, I enjoyed this new substack by Khuyen Do The Cakewalk about “the ways that the worlds of food and fashion interact as well as the absurd, whimsical, and downright bastardized ways in which they co-exist & collaborate.” Looking forward to the next edition!
Spicy Grapefruit Mezcal Paloma:
I realize we haven’t had a cocktail recipe in a while, so here’s a Spicy Grapefruit Mezcal Paloma from Sarah at ‘a good table’ for the mezcal lovers.
Ingredients
2 oz Mezcal
2 oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz lemon simple syrup
3-4 slices of jalapeño (adjust according to your desired spiciness)
Ice cubes
Lemon Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
2 Juice and zest of 2 lemons (make sure to zest before you juice)
Instructions
Lemon Simple Syrup
In a small saucepan, combine water and granulated sugar.
Add lemon juice & zest to the saucepan.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool for about 15 minutes.
Strain the simple syrup to remove the lemon zest, and transfer it to a clean glass jar or bottle.
Build your cocktail
Prep: Take a grapefruit or lime wedge and run it along the rim of your glass. Mix Tajín seasoning with a little coconut or brown sugar and dip the rim into the mixture. Pop the glass into the freezer.
Mixing: While your glass freezes, fill the mixing glass or cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Pour in the mezcal, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, and lemon simple syrup + jalapeño slices. Give it a good stir or shake to combine all the ingredients and infuse the flavors.
Serve: Remove the glass from the freezer, add ice cubes, grapefruit slices and a few slices of jalapeño for a vibrant garnish. Now, strain the cocktail into your frozen glass. Don't forget to leave some space at the top of the glass for the Rosé!
That’s all for this week! Hope you enjoyed reading!
See you soon,
Carlie xx
Book club cakes - i think that should be a thing. Cheers to Spain and more dinner parties with Barbs.