If anyone knows how to throw a dinner party, it’s Jeremy Lee, chef-proprietor of Quo Vadis. To mark the 100th birthday of the Soho grande dame, Lee is supersizing the institution’s beloved Quo Vadis & Friends guest chef series, inviting an A-list roster of chefs, writers and long-time pals into his kitchen to cook one-night-only menus.
Naturally, The Legends series is kicking things off with chaos. Burns Night sees Lee and Kate Tiernan of the now (hopefully temporarily) out of action FKABAM serve their ninth haggis-heavy, anything-goes – and unfortunately already sold out – supper at Quo Vadis, this time taking over all three floors of the building.
In February, the Henderson family will be ruling the roost, as legendary couple Margot and Fergus Henderson return to the Quo Vadis kitchen for the first time in eight years, this time joined by their son Hector Henderson, who heads up the kitchen at Rochelle Canteen.
In March, a third couple will enter the kitchen: author and photographer Joe Woodhouse, and chef and food writer Olia Hercules. Leaning on early spring ingredients, their supper menu will reflect Woodhouse’s vegetarian approach and Hercules’s Ukrainian background.
April, meanwhile, promises pure nostalgia, as Jackson Boxer (Dove, Brunswick House, etc), Merlin Labron-Johnson (Osip in Bruton), Tim Spedding (Flora in Cornwall) and James Lowe (Lyle’s) reunite for the first time since their 5 Easy Pieces collaborative dinner almost a decade ago.
In May, Lee will hand the stoves to Chishuru’s Joké Bakare and Quality Wines chef Nick Bramham, before Chef’s Table star and Darjeeling Express restaurateur Asma Khan arrives to cook up an Indian banquet in June.
July turns competitive, with Lee squaring up to Pie King Calum Franklin (ex-Holborn Dining Room) for a full-throttle “pie-off”. Harmony will return in August, thanks to a dream all-female line-up of Cynthia Shanmugalingam (Rambutan), Ravinder Bhogal (Jikoni), Anna Tobias (Cafe Deco) and food writer Anna Jones, with their 5 Easy Pieces feast.
September is set to welcome Tim and Stefa Hart of Hambleton Hall near Oakham, followed by October’s kitchen reunion of husband and wife Angela Hartnett (Murano) and Neil Borthwick (The French House), who used to cook together in Shoreditch’s Merchants Tavern.
Finally, November will showcase food writer Rachel Roddy’s Roman home cooking, before December closes out with the much-loved Quo Vadis Christmas Carols.
Tickets drop monthly via the restaurant and club’s newsletter, Rocket – and if the last 100 years of Quo Vadis tells us anything, you’ll want to be quick.
