Sharing Plates for Greater Variety
Shareable, Sustainable, Seasonal.
These are three words that Head Chef at Humble Grape, Dane, lives by whenever he creates a new menu or sits down with a group looking to plan a dinner event or celebration.
Why? Because eating out is all about broadening the horizons of diners and giving them an experience rather than just a meal on a plate. It is also an opportunity to introduce them to the kinds of dishes which will enhance the individual tastes of both the food and of the wine that they drink with it - with one of our favourite analogies taking the infamous ‘Chicken and Egg’ theory and asking a simple question. When planning a meal, which comes first? Is it the Food or the Wine?
What is a Humble Grape Sharing Plate?
The Humble Grape sharing plates are designed to be consumed by 2 or 3 people, but unlike most other bars and restaurants, these sharing plates make portioning and sectioning easy. Every sharing plate is made up of a series of different elements, portioned according to the number of diners who wish to share the platter. No more fighting over the last halloumi stick – these are sharing plates which are genuinely made to be shared equally and fairly.
And that’s not all. As is the mantra across so much of what Humble Grape have to offer, the food selection is no different – with each sharing plate introducing a combination of different flavours and different textures, in an effort to move diners away from the standard beige platters filled with carbs and various potato products.
Consider the Humble Grape sharing plate a sort of English tapas, throwing together small testers of lots of different things – some recognisable and some a little more unique and unexpected.
Because what’s life without a little experimentation?
Why Humble Grape like to inject variety into every dish
It is through variety that Humble Grape achieve their mission to become more sustainable – with a typical sharing platter offering at least three vegan options, a few vegetarian options, a few meat dishes and a couple of fish dishes. By offering and serving all of these different ingredients in small quantities, the produce lasts longer and covers more diners, making for a more sustainable and less wasteful use of every single ingredient in the kitchen.
Head Chef, Dane, particularly heralds how the sharing plates allow the kitchen team to experiment with seasonal ingredients and change the way they spotlight the seasons and what is ripe.
“Our aim is to showcase our ingredients in the best way possible – from the way we flavour and season them, to the combinations we create on our shared plates and platters. Every compilation may seem random, but it’s designed to introduce the diner to flavours they might not have otherwise tried.”
Fancy yourself a sharing plate filled with local produce delights and perfect pairings? Next time you’re entertaining, why not try some of these traditional and unique ideas...
Beer and Cheese, a fun but filling pairing
Oysters with a Japanese ginger dressing, enhancing the fresh and salty undertones
Gravlax, an infamous sharing platter dish with herbed crusted smoked salmon the show-stopping ingredient
Fig with gorgonzola, a great dessert platter alternative which pairs the sweet fig with the smooth and creamy cheese. Add walnuts for a crunch and finish with a small glass of dessert wine
Warm olives with pickled lemon, a unique twist which sees our servers warm olives rather than serving them chilled. This allows them to absorb more flavour and round the taste off to perfection
Still need some advice and ideas? We’ve got plenty more where these came from! Head to one of Humble Grape’s London locations and discover what your perfect food and wine pairing is with the help of our resident Chefs and Wine Specialists.
