ode to the pig

oh little piggy, when i see you rolling in the mud and you squeal
i must confess, hungry- i do not feel
but when i see you shaved, paitently waiting for my knife
i am filled with all the joys of life
i will take your belly for confit, your breasts to roll
your hocks for soup, a menu (in my head) starts to unfold
your head for terrine, your leg for ham
your blood for sausage, mise en place i start to plan
you truely are the perfect animal, your heart i hear
will even interchange with ours!
please know little piggy that when i eat of you
it makes me happy like a child
and that is why mr. pig, i will never throw a scrap of you in a bin!!!

love,
chef

Second event coming up soon

We are pleased to announce that there will be a second French House event, and to celebrate it we are planning a two-ways menu... thinking pork... end of June...

First Supper

We would like to thank you very much for coming at the first dinner organized by The French House. We were delighted to have you at our table and hope you’ve enjoyed the evening.

Here are some pictures of the night...







































































The menu:

Sea Gull Cocktail

Chicken Liver Pate with Hennessy Cognac
Pork Terrine with Pistachio, Juniper & Gin
Slow Cooked Pork Belly with Brandied Prune Salsa
Salted Terakihi Brandade with Crispy Capers

Leek, Silverbeet, Nutmeg & Chestnut Tart,
served with Cress & Creme Fraiche Dressing

Roast Chicken, stuffed with Thyme Butter, Lemon & Garlic
Slow Roasted Duck with Rosemary
served with Shallots, Bacon, Sage & Armagnac Prunes

Celeriac Gratin
Cavalo Nero with Confit Garlic Oil, Chilli & Rosemary
Braised Baby Carrots
Bitter Green Salad

Pistachio Brulee with Salted Pistachio Pralines,
served with Vanilla & Honey Roasted Quince, Red Wine Poached Pear
and toffeed Pistachio

Hospitality

We want to re-establish the notion of hospitality and the respect for the table. The table is what it's about; the conversation and the conviviality. We believe food is important, but not as much as the shared moment, the discussions and the social experience. We had the most memorable moments around a table, and we would like to create this kind of occasion, and we think that it might be easier away from a formal environment.

So come and join us!

You can now become a member of The French House

We've just created a network so you can become a member of The French House NZ and spread the word and the initiative.

This is a new experience in New Zealand and we are hoping to get in touch with other similar initiatives and foster the network.

So if you are passionate about well-cooked, rustic and gutsy food, join the movement and keep it going!

We would love to hear from you and find out if you like this project...

To subscribe to the network, click on the Community page or link on to http://thefrenchhouse.ning.com/

First supper: Sunday 23rd May 2010 at 6.30 pm

The first supper hosted by The French House will be held on Sunday 23rd May 2010: a social event for food lovers that will encourage sharing tables, dishes and discussions!

In times of economic recession we all need comfort, so join us for the experience, bring your own bottle of wine, and we will simply ask for a discretionary donation to cover costs.

Please note that due to the nature of the event and limited places, RSVP is required by Tuesday 18th May. The menu and address will be provided few days prior to the event.

A little bit of history on the underground movement

The concept isn't new. Pop-ups were born of the speakeasy fashion during Prohibition - 1920 to 1933 - with over 1,000 "organized" secret dining groups currently ongoing, across North America, Europe and Latin America.

With the high cost of opening a restaurant, what's a young chef with a clever idea to do? In San Francisco, the answer is to set up a temporary restaurant in an existing space a few nights a week. By taking advantage of underused kitchens, pop-ups allow young chefs to experiment without the risk of a full-fledged operation.

Even Chef Alice Waters, of Chez Panisse, started out deep in the underground dining circuit in the late '60s. Waters' community-conscious dinners, mostly for free-speech campaigners, became popularized as Alice's Restaurant.

The underground movement though is more about emphasising food as a social experience, meeting new people, eating well at a reasonable price. They are called Supperclubs (US), paladares (Cuba), 'locked door' restaurant (Argentina), underground restaurants (UK)... the trend is so stealth that nobody can estimate the number of secret pop-up dining locations.

We loved the concept, and are now bringing it to New Zealand, hoping it will spread here too...

Welcome to The French House

The recession continues so we decided to screw all that, take a house, a warehouse, a shop... source food as locally as possible, get people together and put on a one-off restaurant experience...

We want to invite you to debate ideas and meet people, sharing table and dishes, in a cosy and intimate environment, that will change for each event. You won't know where it will be and what the menu will be until a few days before.

Because of its underground nature, it works on bookings-only basis, and you have to be a friend (or a friend of a friend, or a friend of a friend of a friend; alternatively you can also become one through our facebook page!) to be part of the experience.

Finally, and to remain clandestine, there is no alcohol licence (you can bring your own bottle) and no fixed prices; we simply ask for a discretionary donation to cover costs.

Intimate and sociable...