2026 Past Events

Meeting 485 Sunday 18th January 2026
This January Sunday lunch was so successful in the last two years that we had no difficulty deciding to repeat. And we were not disappointed. Mark came up with a splendid winter menu, starting with a smoked haddock tartlet and watercress salad. When at the end Mark came out to explain the details of the menu, this tartlet got especially warm spontaneous applause. The main course was pheasant cooked in the style of coq au vin, with parsnip purée, glazed carrots and January King cabbage. Pudding was a pear and almond frangipane with crème fraîche. After this we were invited to help ourselves to a lovely selection of cheeses. Coffee was served.
The wines came mostly from the Branch Cellar, but we started with an aperitif of Alta Langa Brut Araldica 2021 from The Wine Society. This was very well liked; it is good value at £16.00. We did not have enough bottles of any white or red wine to be able to choose one for each course. Therefore we provided three different white and three reds, so that people could choose; they helped themselves, and were able to sample all of them, and it was interesting to find which were the favourites, and to find that individual tastes verified considerably.