We are still reeling from our second ever Supper Club.

If you missed out on getting tickets (it was a sellout event), and were wondering what you missed, look no further.

The most special element of the event, is that the event planning, menu curation, and stories shared on the night are all organised by our guest chefs.

Mahshid is a new member of our OpenARMs programme, having arrived in the UK only 4 months ago. Mahshid has a passionate love for the poetry of the Persian master Hafez and starts every morning with a few lines from Divan-e Hafez, which is an essential part of the Yalda spread. She handpicked every poem read by our guests during the Supper Club and had also prepared her family’s Ashe Poshte Pah recipe for us to enjoy.

Azadeh is an avid cook and a lover of the winter season. Since arriving in the UK alone last year, she missed the warmth of her family kitchen, especially in the run up to the winter solstice. She prepared her mum’s famous Kadoo Halvai, a traditional dish from the fertile Northern region. It is a staple from her childhood’s Yalda celebrations and brings back memories of home and family.

Hamed is former journalist and political activist who has been supporting the Sufra advice team with interpreting and translation since joining the programme. For our Supper Club menu, Hamed chose to share his favourite childhood comfort food, Potato Kuku. He honed his cooking skills over the last few weeks to personally prepare this dish for the Supper Club.

The planning started many weeks in advance, and began with discussions around which family recipes and special nostalgic dishes to share.

Many shopping trips ensured our guest chefs sourced only the most traditional and authentic Iranian ingredients from all over North London!

The cooking began much in advance, and all three chefs worked tirelessly in the Sufra kitchen all week to capture the essence of special family recipes that they had chosen.

One of the most important aspects of the evening was the Yalda spread, which was curated with lots of love and attention. Each item with its own symbolism for Yalda night.

During the night we heard stories from our guest chefs, learnt more about Sufra and the breadth of work that we do – including our OpenARMS programme - and listened to incredible entertainment from Omid Sobhani who played the Sartoor for our guests.

And of course, the evening was full of delicious food, beautifully presented and enjoyed while our guests made new friends, shared stories and made new connections.

Our thanks go to The Hampstead Kitchen and The Maqam Centre for their incredible support on the day. The styling of the tables was beautiful, and there wasn’t a single person present who didn’t comment on it! The centre provided a wonderful backdrop, both as a beautiful space and for it’s role in the heart of the community, supporting projects like this one. Due to The Hampstead Kitchen's sponsorship of our food purchases and The Maqam Centre allowing us to hire the venue for free, all of the proceeds from this event will go towards our core services, including our OpenARMs programme.

If you’d like to read more about events like this, check out the write-up for our first Supper Club.