The Commoner - 28 February 2013

Peter, Liz, Gaby, Barry, Miriam and James.

Peter's back! (Well, he was back, for a little while.)

This was cause for celebration and over discussion last week about Negronis (a favoured drink of Gaby and Peter) we planned a dinner at The Commoner for that Thursday with as many of the Posh Dinner Society members and affiliates as possible. Unfortunately, Zoe was unable to make it as she had a grant proposal due the next day and a lack of baby-sitting options, but James, Miriam and Barry rounded out the 'meeting' and the Negronis were enjoyed - with The Commoner's signature addition of wood roasted orange. Fabulous! These things are waaaay too drinkable. Other wine that was enjoyed included a Central Otago pinot gris, and multiple sherries including some pedro ximenez.

I was my usual organised (read bossy) self and commandeered the ordering of starters, which we shared. In the end we ended up with a great array of tastes:

• stuffed zucchini flowers
• stuffed baby calamari 
• cheese and onion croquettes
• bread with cumin sesame seeds, and
• heirloom tomato, olive and fresh cheese salad

I didn't have the calamari (Addendum: the others didn't like the calamari all that much) but everything else I tried was lovely. The apparent simplicity of some of the dishes at The Commoner doesn't do justice to the great flavours. The tomato salad might have been my favourite.

For mains, we had:

• Miriam - beef (char-grilled?)
• James - spatchcock
• Barry - Spanish mackerel
• Peter - Spanish mackerel
• Liz & Gaby (shared) - beef & roast heirloom carrots and quinoa salad

We got sides of the chicken skin roasted potatoes (big thumbs up) and the baby iceberg.
I'm glad Liz and I shared - getting a taste of the lovely charred beef (perfectly cooked) and the carrot salad which was sweet from the roasted vegetables, and nutty from the quinoa. I think everyone else enjoyed their meals, though the reports were that the fish was nice, just not exceptional.

Desserts (with lots of sharing):

• Liz - sorrel icecream with blackberries and meringue
• Barry, Peter & Miriam - chocolate ganache with poached strawberries
• James - lecce merengada
• Gaby - plum filled beignets with cream

Liz's icecream was a really interesting flavour. I was less convinced that everyone else but I guess the telling factor was that the plates (of all dishes throughout the night) were eaten clean.

I've enjoyed every meal I've had at The Commoner and would go back any time. Hopefully we can have a return visit from Peter again soon.