I got a bit excited when I first heard about the Quintessentially Epicure event. It promised the showcasing of the very best chefs in the world dropping names such as Marcus Wareing, Giorgio Locatelli, Australia’s own Brett Graham (from one of my favourite restaurants in London The Ledbury), Helen Darroze, Heinz Beck and Phil Howard … I immediately jumped on an offer (£55, normally £100!) for a standard ticket which I thought at least got me tastings from the above named chef’s restaurants. I would have liked to have splurged for the Chefs Demonstrations and Degustations but there was no way I would be able to afford the £500 price tag. Ouch.

The Quintessentially Epicure event was held at the Hurlingham Club – a private member’s club located near Putney Bridge. It was a lovely building and a pretty location for such an event. They even had peacocks running (okay strutting) around the car park. I think they were actually trying to check themselves out in the reflection of the cars …

Leading up to tonight, there had been scant information about the event so Su Yin and I didn’t really know what to expect. It turns out that rather disappointingly we didn’t get to eat from any of the named chefs! However, our entry ticket did at least give us six free “tasting” plates and a free glass of champagne:

Our Tasting Card		Tamarind
Quince		My Dining Room
Maze		Bennett
Babbo		Tattinger

Additionally, we were able to sample some other delights from such places as La Maison du Chocolat, Iberica, and most excitingly Pierre Herme who were incredibly generous with their samples – though to be fair about three of the delicious macarons was as much as we could handle!

The biggest “celeb” chef we saw was Silvena Rowe who was manning her Quince stand. Rather amusingly she had this bed/lounge thing nearby where she was often found relaxing at various stages of the night.

If I’d paid the full £100 for this event I would have felt quite ripped off, and even at £55 I felt slightly in the red … though some could argue it is comparable to the Taste London events where you pay nearly £20 entry and then on top of this pay additional for each tasting plate. Will I come back next year? I’m not convinced yet …