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F O O D & D R I N K<br />
Seeing stars<br />
MICHELIN-STARRED CHEFS ARE NO STRANGER TO LICHFIELD, THANKS TO SAUCE SUPPER CLUB’S<br />
INNOVATIVE FINE DINING CONCEPT. AMY NORBURY WENT ALONG TO DISCOVER MORE<br />
When it comes to great eats, Lichfield is certainly<br />
not short of a good restaurant or two. Fantastic<br />
independents with the mantra of fresh, local and<br />
seasonal vye with cuisine from all around the world,<br />
and the bustling nature of Bird Street at the weekend<br />
shows that there’s no shortage of diners looking for<br />
something to whet their appetites. But sometimes you<br />
just want something, well, more. Something truly out<br />
of the ordinary, something which take your tastebuds to<br />
dizzying new heights.<br />
You may think that Lichfield is just not the place for<br />
such exceptional fayre. But the city’s truly fine dining<br />
credentials have received a huge boost, thanks to the<br />
one Lichfield couple’s passion for all things foodie.<br />
Sauce Supper Club is the brainchild of Beth and Jon<br />
Toovey. The duo already run a business supplying<br />
bespoke fine food ingredients to Michelin-starred and<br />
fine dining establishments across the country, work<br />
which brings them face to face with the best chefs and<br />
the most exceptional food in the industry. So, wanting to<br />
bring this experience home with them to the Midlands,<br />
Beth and Jon set on the idea of a supper club, a way to<br />
bring together discerning diners without the need to<br />
travel too far from home.<br />
To date, chefs including Birmingham Michelin star<br />
winners Luke Tipping of Simpsons, Brad<br />
Carter of Carters of Moseley, Rob Palmer<br />
of Peel’s at Hampton Manor and Richard<br />
Turner of Turners at 69 have all catered<br />
Sauce Supper Club events at venues<br />
including St John’s House and The Wine<br />
House in Lichfield’s historic city centre,<br />
as well as Moor Hall Hotel in Sutton<br />
Coldfield and The Lace Market Hotel in<br />
Nottingham.<br />
A showcase event, billed as ‘the ultimate<br />
Michelin experience’, brought together six<br />
- count them, six - Michelin starred chefs<br />
for a six-course extravaganza at Alrewas<br />
Hayes, with none other than Tom Kerridge<br />
leading the charge.<br />
We were lucky enough to be invited along<br />
to experience the Sauce Supper Club for ourselves<br />
when Matt Cheal, an Andreas Antona protege and<br />
former head chef at Simpsons who now runs his<br />
eponymous fine dining restaurant in Henley-in-Arden,<br />
brought his creative, seasonal cuisine to The Wine<br />
House on a chilly, Autumnal Monday evening.<br />
Like previous events, the evening was a sell-out, with<br />
many diners returning for their second or more Sauce<br />
Supper Club<br />
night. Arriving<br />
at The Wine<br />
House - itself a<br />
sophisticated,<br />
contemporary<br />
restaurant set in<br />
a glorious listed<br />
building in the<br />
heart of Lichfield<br />
- we were greeted<br />
by Beth herself<br />
and invited to<br />
relax with an<br />
aperitif in the bar.<br />
The Sauce<br />
Supper Club<br />
28
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