This Friday, December 11, a group of friends will celebrate their 40th dinner together. Like so many good things in life, it started from a simple idea.
Stephen Grant, from Wallsend, one of the founders of the group, describes their origins: "Early in 2011 I was at a mate's place and we discussed just going out together for a meal. As we discussed it, his wife chimed in and said that he needs more 'bloke time.' We decided to do a dinner for blokes every quarter and just kept it going."
As it has continued, the number of attendees has grown, Grant says.
"People come from as far as the Central Coast and the Manning Valley to join us," he says.
"Our first meal was in April, 2011, and was at Nagisa Japanese restaurant, where my wife works as a chef. We actually have a number of people connected with the hospitality industry attending our dinners. One member is a chef trained at Rockpool in Sydney and another (Glen Peacock) is the assistant to the director of Nagisa and Susuru."
The group has gathered for a meal every three months for 10 years. On December 11 they celebrated their 40th meal, meeting at Antojitos Mexican restaurant in Newcastle. They even created a T-shirt for the event, which lists every venue they attended.
They don't double up very often, and have sampled a wide variety of cuisine in Newcastle and the Hunter, and created a few special meals, too.
"Coco Monde on Darby, for example, did a personal favour by running the Swedish night and a friend's mother put together the Ukrainian night," Grant says.
Most recently, they had a "cyber-dinner night" due to the pandemic. "We all ate in our homes but video-chatted online," Grant says.
THE VENUES
The venues: Nagisa (twice), Mon's Thai, The Only Place, Muchos Mexican, Viet King, Oma's, Bocados, Verde Luna, House of Korea, Coco Monde, Shakey Tables, Northern Star, Sinofood, Seven Seas, Serambi, The Greek Taverna, Habesha, Chan Chan, Le Passe Temps, Cafe Camilo's, MEET, Valhalla Bar, Foghorn Brewhouse, The Persian Place, Safran, Bonta Vera, The Grant, The Powazuk, Barcito, Doppelganger, Sephardim, Toronthai, Le Dynasty, Quill & Compass, Sapphire, Downtown Beirut, The McGlumphrey and Antojitos.
