Innocent Inspires presents A Guide to Good Taste

It’s safe to say that more than a few guests don’t quite know what they’re in for as burly bouncers man the entrance to Crypt on the Green for Innocent Drinks’ latest Innocent Inspires event. Rosewater mocktails on arrival, complimentary gourmet nibbles and elaborately set, banquet-style tables quickly reveal to the 150 foodie guests that they’re in for something special. The fourth instalment in the Innocent Inspires series lets the company’s guests in on a great secret: the secret to good taste.

Craned necks and curious eyes follow the waiting staff as they weave through a suddenly ravenous crowd with treats from The Dip Society, including inventive delights like extra virgin rape seed oil hummus. The bill of culinary experts and entrepreneurs begins with head chef of Soho’s Polpetto, Florence Knight, sharing her philosophy on honest, locally grown food. She treats an increasingly gluttonous audience to peppered ice cream: creamy and smooth with just enough bite.

The delightfully eccentric Ms Marmite Lover (aka Kerstin Rogers) gives a step-by-step guide on hosting the perfectly unique, often shamelessly kitsch dinner party at home. No boundaries are left unbroken as Ms Marmite tackles everything from devouring carbs to boost serotonin levels, to scavenging dinner party supplies from bins. Her offering of an original recipe – a Marmite-infused virgin Bloody Mary – while innovative, is certainly not for the fainthearted (though much better with a dash of vodka, apparently).

Next up is Sam Bompas, one half of jelly aficionados Bompas & Parr, who waxes poetic on the influence of setting on taste, food as an art form and, yes, jelly. Guests can’t help but marvel at both the architectural ingenuity of his jelly sculptures and the story of how his unlikely, yet surprisingly lucrative, business came to be. Food designer Emilie Baltz continues the sensory adventure as she discusses the relationship between taste and perception beyond the confines of flavour. Armed with half a fig, some vanilla, a set of earplugs and Baltz’s eager guidance, guests learn how to truly experience even the simplest foods.

Chef and owner of the rapidly successful Dabbous restaurant, Ollie Dabbous shares his secrets on how to fulfil your culinary ambitions without succumbing to passing trends and pretentious, “cheffy” dishes. He finishes with some gutsy advice applicable to all, culinary or otherwise: “Be spectacular, or go down swinging. The worst thing you can do is be average.”

A Guide to Good Taste is sensory indulgence for the mind and stomach.

Verdict: ★★★★★

Kayla Clibborn

Photos: Kris Piotrowsky

For further information about Innocent Inspires and future events visit here.