Today has been a luxurious, lazy one. After a busy week I enjoyed a lie in, and then sauntered down the road, to what must be my closest supper club venue, for a Scandinavian Brunch. It was hosted by Signe Johansen, author of “Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking: Scandilicious”, and other food and drink books.

We were greeted by Bloody Marys with a Scandi twist (grated horseradish and dill were included, and aquavit replaced vodka). Next up were a couple of healthy smoothies, and then a Jarlsberg and Fennel muffin, which was deliciously light and fluffy. The luxurious twist in this was the use of fennel pollen rather than seed, which gave a more subtle flavour.

This was followed by homemade yoghurt with rye granola and “queen’s compote” — made with raspberry and blueberry.

The main course was the salmon, which was served with a beetroot salad. Signe had selected a couple of varieties of beetroot, scrubbed them and placed them in a roasting tray with about an inch of water. She’d covered this with foil and roasted at 180 degrees for about two hours. The crispbread was sourced from Peter’s Yard.

Then waffles and compote were followed by some extremely popular cinnamon buns.

But what makes supperclubs great is the random people you get to meet, and my table was just as random as I could wish. We had a great time, and shared champagne, good wine and some Scandinavian spirits (FlaggPunsch and Gammel Dansk), as well as plenty of good stories. They’re all foodies too (more so than me in fact, as they do it professionally), and I’m sure you’ll be able to read about the same brunch on their blogs soon:

http://www.thegingergourmand.blogspot.com

http://www.londonfishmonger.blogspot.com

http://essexeating.blogspot.com

http://foodandwinefinds.blogspot.co.uk/

And if you’d like to find out about future events go to Signe’s blog at http://www.signejohansen.com/

Originally published at www.steveparks.co.uk.