Sullano ceviche, Catania caponata, Basque beef cheeks. No, these aren't the members of Forest Gate’s newest acid-folk hip hop fusion band, but the delicious, travel-inspired dishes of home-grown East London supper club, &Ginger.
The brainchild of redheaded duo Josephine Price and Lauren Gamp, &Ginger started out as a semi-regular dinner party held at Josephine’s place in Bow for 20 or so friends.
The concept was simple. They’d draw inspiration for their innovative food menus and cocktails from the culinary culture of destinations they’d cover in their day jobs as digital editor and art editor of National Geographic Traveller UK. Scandi &Ginger, Peru &Ginger, Basque &Ginger – you get the idea.
As Lauren remembers,
"After flirting with the idea of starting a supper club we decided to hold a dinner party for our work friends. Once we saw how much they'd enjoyed the food, we took them aside individually to get feedback. 'Are we good at this? Would you pay to come to another one?'; Luckily the feedback was unanimously positive!"
After launching officially, word spread and demand grew. Tickets were selling out sharpish and they’d always have at least 20 people on the waiting list. They were going to need a bigger boat.
The boat they chose was Benk + Bo near Spitalfields, a multi-purpose events space with a large kitchen and room for 40 covers. Artfully decorated long tables, shots with the chefs and an atmosphere so garrulous it would drown out the playlist of banging background tunes; this is where &Ginger really came into their own.
Just as they were coming into their own, however, Covid paused operations and for two years the &Ginger team lay dormant. Not literally of course – they were busy recipe testing and researching new venues. And when the freedom to supper club was once again reinstated, Jo and Lauren had landed on everyone's favourite Forest Gate community hub, Tracks.
I asked Jo what had brought them to this neck of the woods. "Well, that's easy. It's home. We both live in the area and consecutive lockdowns (and one maternity leave) got us spending a lot of time here. It also became a place we were excited by in terms of the food on offer, from the inventive Arch Rivals to the heartwarming Fiore Truck and much, much more."
“So it felt right to bring our food journey back towards our homes, to a neighbourhood that felt like an interesting place for culinary creativity. Tracks has always been a regular haunt for us but it also positions itself as a community hub and so it quickly proved itself to be a perfect venue for our fun events."
And fun events they certainly are. I was at the last one held at Tracks and didn't leave until 3am, but that's another story. And while you're certainly guaranteed a rollicking good time, it's the food that truly makes these supper clubs stand out. A huge amount of research, planning and care goes into each dish, with every plate acting as a mini celebration of their chosen region's culture. The showstopping Peruvian potatoes involved soured cream, pickles, onions and sweet potato caramel. The sea bass ceviche came with amaranth, cancha, passion fruit and yuzu tiger's milk.
For Forest Gate foodies the &Ginger supper clubs are a must. The food is exquisite, the welcome is warm, and the wine pairing provided by Tracks is, as you'd imagine, perfect.
Keep an eye on their @andgingersupperclub Instagram page for upcoming events, and if you see me at the next one – which you will – feel free to thank me for the recommendation!
