Food and drink is high on our agenda here in Northern Ireland so it’ll be no surprise that the Slemish Market Supper Club is proving extremely popular among food and drink enthusiasts.
The Slemish Market Supper club, run by Chef Rob Curley, is a fun, creative and innovative pop up dining experience using produce from Slemish Market Garden in Ballymena and the Glens of Antrim.
It is a six course surprise menu comprising of a drink, a wee bite, a starter, a fish course, a meat course and dessert.
The supper club takes place in a different venue each time around Ballymena and the Glens of Antrim.
The bespoke menu changes every time according to what is seasonal. But what Rob has totally nailed in the Slemish Market Supper Club are menus which tell the story of the area, the people and the place.
At the beginning of each meal, Rob and the gardener, Frank McCooke, from Slemish Market Garden provide a short talk explaining how the food was grown and cooked. The gardener explains each aspect of the growing and harvesting process of the produce used for the menu and the chef explains how the food was prepared.
Rob has sourced plates which have been made from wood from Ballymena and Glenariffe. These plates were made using trees which had to be cut down due to the ashback disease and so he has given them a new purpose and function.
Rob has also served dishes on reclaimed Belfast brick.
Trees which have fallen in Slemish Market Garden were chopped and made into canapé servers which are used at the Slemish Market Supper Club. Slemish Market Garden provide the table decorations for every meal using their own plants, shrubs, vegetables, fruit and herbs in an artistic and creative way.
Many people will know Chef Rob already but for those of you who haven’t, Rob has over 20 years’ experience in the restaurant trade having worked previously in L’Ecrivain ( 1 Michelin star) and Shanahans On The Green in Dublin.
He has done a lot of Food Demonstrations at large and small food festivals and he won Ulster Local Food Hero at the Irish Restaurant Awards 2016.
Slemish Market Supper club was nominated for NI Best Local Food Story at the Food and Drink Awards 2017. We are nominated for Local Food Hero and best private and club dining award at the Ulster section of the Irish Restaurant Awards 2017 in Fermanagh.
Slemish Market Supper club has been invited to showcase what we do with our good friend Chef Gorka Arrieta at the prestigious Gastonomic Pintxo/Miniature Congress in Vitoria-Gasteiz the capitol of the Basque region in Spain in 2018. Rob said it will be fantastic to showcase what he does and showcase our region to the top chefs of Spain and international clients.
Slemish Market Supper Club is a Live It Experience It Member.
What we do:
