$15.00 for a set meal plus a chance to talk with friendly strangers! These were two things that came to mind when preparing to experience Irish Heather’s Long Table Series in Gastown. Surrounded by Irish décor (including a giant U2 poster), the table extended from one side of the room to the other. But like any other social gathering, each group kept to their own, even padding their personal space with an empty seat or two. We sat in the middle, open to the elements. The evening started off with a round of introductions… from the corporate sponsors. The Orchard Hill representative talked about the 5 kinds of apples that were in tonight’s cider and how awesome Orchard Hill was. The Mobio guy talked about how awesome the Mobio app was and if you were already fortunate enough to own an iPhone then you could get a discount for paying tonight’s meal with it.
The meal came out shortly after: roast suckling pig with apple-rosemary sauce atop braised cabbage and mashed potatoes. The pork was as tender as butter, delicately spiced to bring out the citric nuances of the cider… is what a food critic would write, which I am not. I had confused the term ‘suckling’ with ‘succulent’ – but thankfully, we had a stranger sitting next to us that was kind enough to describe his experience with 300-pound pig farmers and their daily intake of suckling baby pigs… mmm. Conversation continued from there and it turned out to be a pleasant experience partnered with a delicious meal! The Long Table Series is interesting way to bring ‘supper to the table’ and even better with good company.
*My Edit: and we also shared a delectable sticky toffee pudding. Yum! Also, while I found the mobio app to be a great concept and while I DID have an iphone, I opted not to use it just because I found it a hassle to put in my credit card info etc into my phone just for ONE meal.. to get a 5 dollar off a meal next time.. Maybe if mobio caught on and more restaurants/services began to use it, I’ll conform.. until then.. my iphone will be littered with useless apps I bought while half asleep (pedometer that tells me I burned 41000 calories in 45 min anyone? God.)
