The gentlemen from Table Manners have done it again. Last Friday a few of us here at Charcoal had the pleasure of attending their latest pop-up dinner at the Graffiti Gallery. As usual, they pulled out all of the stops and served up a delicious seven course meal. Table Manners calls themselves ‘a restaurant on the run’ , a perfect explanation for these talented chefs that have been putting on secret dinners that out-do the last every time.
The Table Manners Crew (clockwise from top) Max Frank, Chris Gama, Jesse Oberman and Taylor Archibald.
The creativeness of the dishes served matched our surroundings to a tee with the walls of the Graffiti Gallery being painted from head to toe in black and white illustrations for their latest exhibit (check out our post on it the exhibit here: collective chaos).
To start, a duo of small bites that included a stuffed beet cannoli and radish and caviar on top of shortbread, which believe us was delicious and not done much justice with the description above. Next, a great twist on the traditional lox and cream cheese with pretzel chips and delicious smoked salmon. Can you believe we are only through two of seven?
above & below: the oh-so lovely serving staff for the evening
Above: Charles & Seamus helping in the kitchen for the night
Next perfectly pureed parsnip and apple soup served in individual mason jars were quote, a ‘culinary marvel’. Presented with a packet of secret crispy bits, when added to the soup and topped with the homemade hot sauce it was effen’ fantastic. 
The salad course followed. With smoked baba ghanoush, cauliflower and crispy pita in one and pork belly, potatoes and hickory sticks in the other. All salads should be like this. Things get blurry from here. 
Tender short ribs, lentils and surprisingly delicious broccoli puree was the main event.
Next came a pallet cleansing strawberry jello shot with sheep’s milk cheese. 
To top it all off was a chocolate tofu mousse topped with an orange truffle and marshmallows.
What was so great about this meal, other than the outstanding food, was that the creative and fun personalities of the chefs really came through in the dishes. We are always pumped to be a part of these underground dinner parties and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store for these culinary crusaders.
with love, from charcoal.
photography: brett howe
layout: sarah gurevich
words: arielle gurevich
