November Guide: 10 Food and Drink Events Happening in London This MonthBy Alicia Grimshaw

The clocks have gone back, the nights are now drawing in, and the city’s best chefs are curing the gloom by throwing birthday bashes, one night only dinners and collab menus this month. And hey, we’re not complaining. There’s so much delicious grub up for grabs. Game menus. Pasta (and pork) parties. Cheeseburger sharing platters. Come hungry:

1. For a Guest Chef Series: Sabrina Ghayour at The Grazing Goat

What: Sabrina Ghayour, chef, bestselling author and supper club queen, rounds off this year’s ‘Cubitt House Eats With’ series with a feast (£80 per person) at The Grazing Goat, hosted by Ben Tish.

The Event: On Wednesday 4th November, Sabrina Ghayour (known for her debut cookbook Persiana and seven other cookbooks), will be knocking out a boatload of  Persian and Middle Eastern food and flavours. Kick off with feta, tarragon and spice rolls; labneh with garlic, tomatoes and mint; and spicy orange chicken bites, then loosen your belt for sweet and spicy spatchcocked poussin and nihari-style lamb shanks. Pudding is a fan-favourite –  passion fruit, lime and coconut cake straight from the book.

Where: 6 New Quebec St, London W1H 7RQ

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2. For a Game Dinner: Don’t Tell Dad

What: Don’t Tell Dad is marking British Game season with a special dinner on 4th November, with a menu devised by Head Chef Luke Franke.

The Event: Priced at £75 per person, the four-course menu celebrates British game alongside the best of the late-autumn produce. Dishes include venison croquette with mustard mayonnaise, followed by venison tartare, beetroot, and green peppercorn. For the main course, enjoy five-spice pigeon with plum sauce and chicory, and roast mallard with quince and celeriac, served with Pomme Anna and bitter leaves with satsuma and walnut. To finish, there’s an indulgent chocolate mousse with sour cherry and hazelnut.

Where: 10-14 Lonsdale Rd, London NW6 6RD

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3. For a Night of Partridge: Wilton’s

What: Celebrating one of the highlights of the British culinary calendar, Wilton’s is hosting a special evening showcasing the rich flavours of game season (£150 per person).

The Event: Taking place on Friday 6th November, the evening begins with an amuse-bouche, followed by grouse mousse on toast with redcurrant and port jelly, game consommé with truffle and game raviolo, and red-leg partridge with wild mushrooms and Madeira jus. Venison fillet with cabbage farci and blackberry gastrique follows, before apple tarte Tatin with salted caramel ice cream and petits fours bring the dinner to a close.

Where: 55 Jermyn Street, St. James’s, London

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4. For a 20th Celebration: Theo Randall

What: Theo Randall Cucina Italiana at InterContinental London Park Lane is turning the big two zero, and to ring in this milestone, Theo has invited friends and peer chefs – Angela Hartnett, Matthew Ryle, Phil Howard and Gennaro Contaldo – into the kitchen for a big pasta knees-up on Friday 6th November (£250 per person).

The Event: The five-course dinner has been created collaboratively by the chefs with Theo and his team at the restaurant. To start, Angela Hartnett, respected as one of the country’s foremost leaders in Italian cuisine, will prepare a bitter leaf salad, robiola with dressing and Piedmont hazelnuts. Theo’s signature homemade pasta follows with Pansotti alla Genovese, fresh pasta filled with mixed winter greens, ricotta with porcini and portobello mushroom sauce. Beloved Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo brings slow-cooked squid with potatoes and datterini tomatoes, and Phil Howard, whose restaurant, Elystan Street, recently celebrated its own landmark decade, brings a touch of autumn to the plate with chicken, delica squash, trompette mushrooms, chestnuts and brown butter sage. To finish, Matthew Ryle, Executive Chef Partner of Maison François, nods to a French classic with a prune and Armagnac baba with chantilly cream.

Where: Park Ln, London W1J 7QY

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5. For Produce-Driven Dishes: Coombeshead Farm x The Waterman’s Arms

What: Cornwall is coming to the Thames. On Monday 9th November, Coombeshead Farm packs up its produce and takes over the kitchen at The Waterman’s Arms in Barnes for one night only.

The Event: Tom Adams founded Coombeshead in 2016 as a guesthouse, restaurant, bakery and working estate, and the restaurant’s menu is whatever the farm has grown, reared and found that week, much of it cooked over fire. All of it is making the trip to Barnes, where Executive Head Chef Sam Andrews, who runs the pub’s seasonal, produce-led modern European kitchen, will be sharing his stoves with the farm’s nose-to-tail approach.

Where: 375 Lonsdale Rd, London SW13 9PY

6. For a Birthday Collab: AngloThai x David Thompson

What: AngloThai turns two, and founder John Chantarasak has invited his old mentor, chef David Thompson, to cook for two nights only. Expect ancient Thai technique meeting British ingredients, with a Michelin-starred legend flying in from Bangkok specially for the occasion.

The Event: The pair are back in the kitchen together, with David drawing on his deep knowledge of ancient Thai cooking, and John putting British produce to work in true AngloThai style. David now oversees restaurants across Thailand and Australia, including Aksorn in Bangkok and Long Chim, so this is a rare chance to taste his distinctive cooking in London. Dinners take place on Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th November, limited to just 45 guests a night, with bespoke wine pairings available.

Where: 22-24 Seymour Pl, London W1H 7NL

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7. For a Ham-Centric Dinner: Brindisa

What: Brindisa Tapas Richmond is bringing la matanza, Spain’s great pig-centric tradition, to London for one night only (£60 per person). If you’re into ham, consider this your lucky night; nose-to-tail feasting with jamón ibérico de bellota carved from start to finish.

The Event: On Wednesday 11th November, St Martin’s Day, Brindisa honours the old Spanish saying ‘a cada cerdo le llega su San Martín’ (‘every pig gets its St Martin’s’) with a feast inspired by the rural families who once gathered to turn a whole pig into winter provisions. Doors open at 7pm with a welcome glass of cava, then the master carver gets to work, slicing jamón ibérico de bellota throughout the evening alongside presa ibérica. There’s more pork-related nibbles on the menu – cachuela (a spiced pork liver pâté traditionally eaten on the morning of the matanza), prueba de cerdo fried with paprika and garlic, and migas with crispy torreznos, which are essentially pork belly crackling in strip form.

Where: 5 Whittaker Ave, Richmond TW9 1EH

8. For a Manchester Takeover: Burger and Beyond x Café Continental

What: Burger & Beyond is joining forces with Manchester’s much-loved Café Continental for an exclusive one-night-only dining event at its Soho restaurant on Thursday 12 November (£45 per person).

The Event: It’s all about comfort food here. A sharing platter of cheeseburgers with peppercorn sauce, giant Atlantic tiger prawns, 400g sirloin steak and short rib loaded fries, accompanied by a fresh green salad. To finish, it’s, of course, sticky toffee puddings, rounding off an evening of unapologetically indulgent food.

Where: 10 Old Compton St, London W1D 4TF

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9. For Korean and Malaysian Cooking: Mambow x Dongnae

What: On Sunday 15th November, Mambow founder Abby Lee welcomes Kyu Jeon and Duncan Robertson of Dongnae in Bristol for a one-day special celebrating Korean and Malaysian cooking on a single menu (£65 per person). 

The Event: Dongnae brings their homemade jangs (traditional Korean fermented soybean-based sauces) to London, having created a set menu with Abby revolving around their signature Korean dishes and weaving in Mambow’s own ferments and sauces.  Menu highlights include: black pepper crab and jamon Iberico kimbap; fried chicken wings in a chilli seeds glaze with citrus kerabu; spiced wagyu bulgogi, ssam, banchan, rice; and finishing with sweetcorn injeolmi, peanut jocheong, vanilla cream.

Where: 78 Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, London E5 0RN

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10. For a New Monthly Series: Caia 

What: Notting Hill bistro Caia is launching Chefmaxxing, a new monthly series from Executive Chef John Javier.  First up in the hot seat is Valentin Raffali, Executive Chef of Paris’ newly reopened Bus Palladium.

The Event: On 16th November, Valentin opens the series with a six-dish à la carte menu. It starts with hida beef gildas with Cantabria anchovies, olive, guindillas, then deep-fried pig trotters croquetas, and drunken pigeon and XO sauce. Pudding is île flottante au savagnin topped with fresh black truffle.

Where: 46 Golborne Rd, London W10 5PR

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