Since opening its doors in Borough Market in 2011, Elliot’s has earned its place as one of London’s most revered eateries. Founded by Sam Lim and Brett Redman, the past fifteen years have seen the pair perfect the art of seasonal menus, wood-fired cooking and laidback, high-quality dining. Sourcing produce from their Borough Market neighbours and independent suppliers across the UK and Europe, dishes take an ingredient-led approach to Modern European cuisine. In 2021, the duo’s East London outpost opened its doors on Mare Street, offering up small plates, wood-fired pizzas and an ever-growing selection of natural wines across the river. In celebration of Elliot’s fifteenth anniversary, Sam and Brett have curated their ideal dinner party, featuring family-style sharing dishes, mini espresso martinis and chilled red on tap.

Ideal dinner party locations…
We love a low-key dinner party, so ideally it’s at home where guests can relax and let loose. Ideally it’s on a balmy summer evening where you can throw open the back windows and door, letting the smells from the kitchen mix with the breeze in the back garden. Alternatively, it’s around a large round table, Chinese banquet style, with the table top coved with an abundance of food.

Ideal dinner party playlist…
This should feel familiar, without being too obvious and bring its own energy to the space. If it’s at home, the music should carry you through each phase of the evening – from cooking in the kitchen, to guests arriving, welcome drinks, the meal – and then slowly ramping up (or down!). Perfect music curation takes a lot of time, so we would outsource this to Billy, our General Manager at Elliot’s Hackney, who is responsible for music in the restaurant or ask our friend and DJ Louise Chen, who has exceptional taste.

Ideal dinner party guests…
Having a mix of guests is always a hoot. If you can gather all your closest crew and strike a balance by adding some additional fun guests into the mix, it’s dynamite. If it’s a seated dinner, it’s great to break up the couples or besties so that people feel a bit more free. It’s magic when the conversation just flows, and as a host you don’t feel like you need to keep checking in with people.

Ideal design/furniture/tablescape…
Our style is pretty laid back, but precise, so this will all be fairly minimal with some small touches. Unsurprisingly, most of our tableware is from the restaurant, previous projects or gifts. We limit tablescaping to the essentials as space is premium for all the plates, glasses and wine bottles. The table is like a canvas, and we love how it looks at the end of the party. A mess on the table is a sign of a good time shared by all.

The best dishes to serve…
Family-style dishes that are easy to share are our go-to. It should obviously be supremely delicious, but not take centre stage so that the buzz of conversation doesn’t get interrupted by plate changes, etc. We usually start the night with easy snacks for guests to pick at leisurely and then move onto large platters like Cantonese steamed whole fish or prawn and habanero lasagne lifted from Ixta Belfrage, with loads of sides.

The best dessert to serve…
Our preference is an after-dinner drink rather than a dessert, so a mini espresso martini ticks all the boxes.

The best drink/cocktail accompaniment… 
Wine! There are so many amazing bottles to be drunk and a dinner party is a great chance to drink across the rainbow. It should flow freely, and the bottles should be plentiful, working like the music across the evening. Starting with bubbles, moving onto a crisp white, savoury orange and then a stunning deep rosato or chilled red.