We had our company Christmas party at one of Matt's events that was held in the Deans Court Café, Wimborne under his new venture called Flaming Peaches.
We knew of Matt Davey's food from his time at the Tickled Pig (also in Wimborne) and wanted to join in on this pop-up restaurant Supper Club type thing. Not to lie, the fact that it was also Bring Your Own certainly added to the attraction for a company do.
It was a slightly cosy affair with room for 30 people in the café, but we just had enough people to take up 20 of the places. They kindly set some space aside for us, so we had our own cocktail and drinks section. We certainly took advantage of the BYO by opening bottles of Veuve Clicquot and Lanson Champagne to start the night off. No cheap Prosecco tonight, the big guns were out.
Freshly baked bread with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip were on the table to tie us over until everybody else arrived.
The approach to the evening was great food served family style, in the sense that the starter and main courses would be placed on sharing platters for people to help themselves.
Matt has a Citroen van from where bulk of the actual cooking occurs and the food is plated up in the café. Matt had two assistants to help the evening flow very smoothly and didn't mind me getting in the way at times, and they couldn't be more helpful.
The starter was made up of the following:
- Chorizo, smoked bacon and crispy sage pincho.
- Home smoked salmon taramasalata, tomato, burnt spring onion and toast.
- Chicory, clementine, candied walnut and smashed feta salad.
We kept the team watered throughout the evening with rum, daiquiris, negroni, white wine, red wine and whatever we managed to haul across.
For the main course we had
- Hot smoked ox cheek, anchovy mayonnaise, battered green onions.
- Grill venison fillet, crown prince puree, candied hazelnuts, green sauce.
- Wood roasted and crispy fried potatoes, pork butter, garlic and rosemary.
- Shaved red cabbage, beetroot, apple and pecan salad, natural yoghurt.
The venison was the absolute star of the evening, and the extra round of meat to come around was also very, very welcome.
Dessert was Vanilla panna-cotta, roasted pumpkin puree, cinnamon and candied walnuts. I had a bottle of Sauternes to go with it but unfortunately I hadn't chilled it cold enough. I must get some bonus points for bringing the Sauternes for the staff.
The night ended with tea/coffee and churros.
The setting, the food, the BYO made for an excellent evening. Only downside for me was the £50 taxi fare back from Wimborne, via Poole to Southbourne.
He is doing various events throughout the year, and if he is doing December again and you can fill out 30 places it would make for a great private party for your company or otherwise. Or like us, you can still have a section to yourself and share the night with another group.
Website: Flaming Peaches Street Food
