knitting at the dinner table

Thanks to the joys of social networking over on Ravelry, a bunch of fellow yarny types and I got together on Sunday to combine two three of our favourite pastimes:  knitting, eating, and drinking.  Some time back I’d suggested in a discussion thread as there are so many amazing places to eat in London so we should try to arrange a regular meet-up to visit some of them.  Due to my crazy work hours I couldn’t make it to the last one, but this time round we’d booked a Sunday lunch at MsMarmiteLover’s Underground Restaurant.

MsMarmiteLover is true to her name...

For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, this is one of a number of supperclubs hosted in super-seekret locations around London, most commonly in the home of the host.  This particular underground restaurant is in north-west London, very close to transport, and seems to be exceedingly popular.

Upon arrival we were shown to the garden at the back, where we mingled in the sunshine sipping a glass of bubbly.  Once called inside, we made our way through the four course menu (pescatarian, but with a vegetarian option for the main course).

This blood orange and fennel salad looked amazing, and was rather tasty:

As this was an afternoon affair in MsMarmiteLover’s house (not your usual quick turnaround restaurant) we had lots of time to chat and knit in between courses.

We seem to have provided quite a bit of entertainment for the fellow guests, several of whom came up to us during the afternoon to ask what we were working on.  Because I spend so much time knitting with others in various public locations (pubs, trains, parks), I forget that we’re actually quite a novelty sight.

There’s a great pic of us (les tricoteuses) over here at MsMarmiteLover’s blog.

The afternoon’s highlight for me was definitely the company.  My knitting companions were of course all fabulous to spend an afternoon with; the other guests were really friendly; and MsMarmiteLover and her assistants were all lovely.

I’d love to hear about recommendations for other places in London to eat and knit.