As I mentioned in my Pencil This In post a few weeks ago, Meet Me @ Fanatic was carded for May 4th at the Fanatic Kitchen Studio. I actually attended, spurred on by the fact that I’ve been wanting to visit Fanatic Kitchen Studio for quite a while now, and I really couldn’t think of a good reason to pass up on cocktails and hors d’oeuvres with my best friend Sandi.
The space itself is fantastic: well-lit with a white, black and red motif throughout the decor and furnishing. The open plan kitchen gave guests ample opportunity to look on as Chef Jason Peru whipped up several courses, ranging from goat cheese bruschetta to chicken & mushroom quesadillas to nutella ravioli. A few patrons even got in on the action (myself included), preparing a few of the dishes ourselves. The concept of Meet Me @ Fanatic is essentially this: you come, you socialise, you sip cocktails, sangria or whatever you fancy and get treated to delicious but do-able dishes by world class chefs. Part of the appeal is that all the items on the menu are easy to re-create at home, using easily accessible ingredients that you can find in your local supermarket.
We also got some cocktail demonstrations from the resident mixologist Jason Thomson. He showed us how to make a hazelnut martini to accompany our dessert course. A little vodka, Kahlua, Baileys and BLEND. Garnish with some chocolate syrup, whipped cream and Piroulin and voila! Decadence in a glass. All of our hosts from Fanatic Kitchen Studio were incredibly engaging and really got guests involved in the process. You couldn’t help but get that cliche feeling like you’d known these people for a long time, and that it was just a group of friends sitting down to a casual dinner.
The ambience was fabulous and there was no obnoxiously loud stereo system to compete with, a serious plus if you’re one of those people who’d actually like to talk to the person seated next to you. The bar was bottomless and I dove pretty deep into the sangria – both the red and white variety. All in all I had a fantastic time and I can safely say that I’ll be back again for the next installment. Fanatic Kitchen Studio has gained yet another fan.
Check out some pics below from last night
