Delicious food + endless wine + wonderful art installation = a delighted Tom Jeffreys.
Occasionally I get accused of gushing. Which is probably because I occasionally gush. When I first heard about ManiFesten, the current art/dinner project evenings conceived by Hannah Watson at Trolley Gallery, I basically redefined hyperbole. So when I'm standing about outside the gallery enjoying a really rather excellent Negroni and chatting to a lovely couple who've come to the event almost entirely on account of my gushing preview, I'm understandably nervous. What if it's rubbish? Fortunately it's not rubbish; it's an utter delight from start to finish.
It all kicks off with a performance by Awst & Walther in St Leonard's Garden, round the back of Shoreditch Church. Basically it involves us standing in a vague circle, holding a piece of string and being told to focus on one person and find out as much as possible about them. My problem is a lack of focus, and my attention flits from person to person, settling for any length of time only on the White Lightning-sipping chap on a nearby bench. It's an interesting piece in the sense that it makes you think about the ways in which you can (indeed, should and must) judge people on appearances alone, at least initially. It's also a nice talking point for the dinner ahead.
A dinner which is, frankly, a marvel; quite unlike anything I've ever experienced before. There's twelve of us dining, and we each climb up stepladders to perch atop our allocated seats – wooden, canvas and precarious – high above the gallery floor below. A wooden table descends from above, delicious freshly baked bread rolls (in numbered editions) are suspended from the ceiling, and the exotically trousered gallery owner Gigi carves swathes off a giant jamón ibérico for all and sundry. The two pigs in the middle of the table are sculpted out of butter.
Trays of potatoes and broccoli in delicious caper sauce appear, bunches of asparagus ascend to eye level and we grab at them with two-foot-long forks. And then the centrepiece: a colossal halibut surrounded by sardines, vine tomatoes and samphire. Pearl-white, full and fleshy, the halibut is quite wonderful.
Tiramusu arrives in bowls that spell out 'Tim and Sue' before black helium-filled balloons float across the ceiling, dangling meringues. Each meringue sports a white chocolate leg (bizarrely) and we gobble rather undaintily at these tantalisingly suspended treats.
It is the opening night and there are a few teething problems – some of the winching doesn't go that smoothly and there are moments when the central platter platform looks about to collapse – but in a sense it all adds to the feeling that we're sharing a new and exciting adventure. Robert Storey's table/chair installation transforms the dining experience into a journey of joy and wonder, a journey for which Caroline Hobkinson's menu provides the perfect provisions. Art never tasted so good; and gluttony never felt so right.
ManiFesten is at Trolley Gallery 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 9th, 10th, 11th June 2010.
Click here for tickets to ManiFesten, priced £69. I think they're sold out, but if you're super nice, maybe they'll put on an extra night or something.
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