you have been on twitter for a while
but when you move 8000 miles away twitter becomes something else, explodes
suddenly it's like when you first met the internet
everything new, you are innocent and trusting
and go to people's houses
you've never met, in Real Life, before.
Oneday
in the land of
nothingness that is neither working nor vacationing
you get a DM
'hey-- you wanna be a guest chef at my Underground Restaurant?' the person's name is @MsMarmitelover.
you say yes and head to her house
even though you have no idea what train you're on and how to get there.
you both talk about a lot of things.
but what catches your breath is that you speak of one of your most favoritest dishes to make and eat
EGGPLANT PARMESAN
you both agree:
when it's Done Right
it takes all day.
and an idea is born.
you know British strawberries will arrive just before June 13
and you don't know what you'll make for pudding/dessert
but you know it will be All About Those Amazing Strawberries.
while you've never been to or cheffed at an Underground Restaurant, you've done a fair amount of onsite catering and know you can handle it. you don't sweat the small stuff and you can pass on a few restaurant tricks. but it's not about any of that. it's about
COLLABORATION
COMRADERIE
COMMUNITY
ACCESS
REVOLUTION
HOME
HEART
GENEROSITY
delicious food.
to see the menu in it's entirety, photographed by the fabulous @MsMarmitelover, go to her blog The English Can Cook. The craziest thing you'll see is me in a dress in the kitchen !
My favourite lines from her inital post on our dinner:
"Shuna Fish Lydon is a specialist in patisserie and custards. What she doesn't know about eggs is not worth knowing."
*
For the photos I managed to catch between prep, plate-up, keeping tidy and generally taking in the whole scene with my heart and mind, check out my set on Flickr.
~
Underground Restaurants -
putting the u back in Guerilla.
Sister,
You are one badd mama jamma! I swear! YOU make me excited in all kinds of ways.
Damn...Hot hot hot! with the Hotness!
I am so digging this underground restaurant vibe...experience.
Posted by: lovebabz | 16 June 2009 at 06:47 PM
Oh god Shuna, I seem to remember saying drunken things to that Brazilian journalist ...
What a beautiful post!
x
Posted by: marmitelover | 16 June 2009 at 07:44 PM
Very cool, this underground stuff seems very you.
Posted by: jennywenny | 16 June 2009 at 07:57 PM
Wowza great!!
Love love love the way she introduced you!
The pictures were a treat, thank you!
Posted by: Tartelette | 17 June 2009 at 09:34 PM
Wow! Wish we could have been there for that fabulous feast. Sure we would have loved the main course, but those strawberries!!!!!!! We are drooling!!
Posted by: Dad & Ellen | 18 June 2009 at 11:29 AM