The Good Book Club: A Joint Venture with The London Chef and Bolen Books

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” ― Francis Bacon

Three of life’s greatest pleasures are perfectly paired when you combine reading, eating and drinking. Furthermore, if you have ever been in a book club, then surely you can appreciate that wine is as much an essential element as are a few nibbles to munch on. It’s like the appetizer, before getting down to the “meat” of the book, the first chapter if you will. Of course, a juicy book, worthy of discussion, is the fodder that binds any good book club together.

One such a union has formed between The London Chef and Bolen Books.  Together they have collaborated to announce their latest venture, The Good Book Club. Once a month readers will meet up to dine and discuss a featured novel. It’s an evening to get together with fellow book club members for good books, good food, good conversation and of course, good wine! While seated around The London Chef’s long dining table, guests will enjoy a three course gourmet meal (prepared by Chef Dan Hayes) and converse about the book.

“It’s exciting when businesses can work together” says Micayla Hayes. “The Book Club idea is about people meeting people for a fun, social and enjoyable evening.”

On October 2^nd The Good Book Club launched its first event with The Dinner by Herman Koch. It was a bold novel to begin with and certainly led to some lively conversation. The plot is structured around a five-course meal, from aperitif to digestif. The story begins with two couples meeting for dinner at a fancy restaurant in Amsterdam. Over the course of the meal they make painful attempts to discuss a single horrific act involving their teenage sons. Through a series of flashbacks, we discover that the boys have committed a gruesome and unconscionable crime, which is highlighted to an unnerving degree by the narrator’s sinister and unreliable musings. As the meal wears on, the “vast emptiness” on the plates, with their miniscule portions of food, is accentuated by the increasing void between the couples. By dessert the dialogue is almost unpalatable, as we discover eerie truths about the characters.

While there were several references to food in the book, the mention of each dish seemed to serve as a framework for the heavier elements in the story. Just as there were some similarities between Hayes’ cuisine and that of The Dinner we were invited to experience a much wider selection of The London Chef’s talents with the menu he created.

The Good Book Club Menu – Book One

Our group consisted of fifteen members, three of whom were men and from various professions. We were teachers, restaurant owners, therapists, nutritionist’s, writers, photographers, mothers, fathers, book collectors and readers alike.

When it came time to gather around the table, I sensed a bit of squeamishness, or hesitancy to dive into discussion. The book, you can see, was quite the undertaking. It appeared we were all a bit stunned and justifiably uneasy.

Still, we trudged on, prepared to address The Dinner with its difficult subject matter and questionable commentary. It’s fairly safe to say, the group was in agreement about one thing: the narrator (referred to as Paul) was an unwell, unreliable and awful human being.

While there were extended references to food in the book, the mention of each dish (be it small and lacking, or overall unappetizing, according to Paul) served as a framework for the heavier elements in the story. Would there be any similarities between the London Chef’s cuisine and that of The Dinner? In short yes, albeit our meal was far more appetizing as the evening would reveal.

By the time we had settled in and shrugged off a bit of the story, our first course was presented: Sunwing tomato and warm Salt Spring Island goats cheese salad with quails eggs and pine nuts; a similar salad ordered by our narrator, who we find out “doesn’t even like goat’s cheese.”

Our discussion gradually veered toward the “what would you do?’ scenario; a difficult question to answer indeed. Truthfully, no one knows until you are faced with something just how you would react.

We pondered these ideas over our main course of roasted stuffed quail with autumn squash puree, toasted almond and spinach stuffed mushroom caps. In the novel, Paul orders the Guinea-hen filet wrapped in “paper thin” German bacon and soon finds away to think of the ear of corn on his plate as “disgusting” (things begin to take a steep turn for the worse at this point in the story).

Throughout dinner the fundamental question lingered: does right or wrong matter when it comes to the one you love? How far would you go to defend your family?

Over dessert (dark chocolate mousse with candied almonds and fresh blackberries) our group seemed content to leave such matters to the heart, or perhaps for another (book club) dinner. Oh, and you don’t even want to know what happens with the blackberries in the book. You will just have to read it for yourself

…Or, check out the next book club event on November 20, 2014, 6:00 – 9:00pm. Price: $75.00 (cost of the book is included in the price) November’s book: Every Happy Family by Dede Crane. Special note: The author, Dede Crane will be in attendance for the event! More information here.

Canapés:

Tortilla Espanol – Spanish potato omelet with spiced tomato jam Beef Tartar – AAA beef in sundried tomato cone with cornichons and micro greens Adult Grilled Cheese – Grilled stilton, fig chutney and petit apple slaw

Wine selection:

La Vieille Ferme – Blanc (aromas: white peach, white flower, hazelnut and melon) La Vieille Ferme – Rouge (aromas: red fruit, blackcurrent and blackberry, spice)

Apertif:

Sunwing tomatoes salad and warmed Salt Spring Island goats cheese with quails egg and pine nuts in a champagne vinaigrette.

Main Course:

Roasted stuffed quail with confit legs, autumn squash puree, toasted almond and spinach stuffed mushroom caps.

Dessert:

Dark chocolate mousse with candied almonds, blackberry coulis and fresh blackberries.