Faye and Danny's Wedding Reception Hascombe Village, Surrey 30th July, 2011 |
It was around a year or so ago that I met Faye and Danny in the Restaurant and from that date onwards, we began
planning their wedding reception! It was a daunting prospect - 150 person barbecue with hot and cold mezes,
baklava and Turkish tea. The kind of event you just have to get right! We were also to help with nibbles, cocktails,
wines, water on tables, champagne, fresh fruit salad and cheese display! We were going to need quite a team.
Megan, Adem, Sebbie, Val, Katie, Ryan and Stephie were all obvious first choices and the others were friends of the
family who were quite happy to be roped into a Silk Road 'road trip'. The above is a picture of the team before it all
started when everyone was clean and smiley and we hadn't yet been working for twelve hours!
The menu consisted of four different cold mezes on the tables followed by two hot ones, bread and olives. The main
courses were lamb chops, chicken shish and kofte kebabs, halloumi and vegetarian kebabs, falafel, salad and rice.
We had three large coal barbecues which were raging hot once lit and hot platters to take cooked lamb and
chicken, extra mezes and the salads etc. Everything went beautifully. The ceremony was held in the garden and
afterwards came the photos, the speeches and then the food.
People seemed to be coming up in their hundreds and I worried that we would struggle to keep up with them all.
Fortunately, Adem had made a good quantity which was constantly being used to top up the hot platters and Sebbe
and Michael did a grand job of serving everyone whilst finding time to chat and talk about the menu on offer.
Unfortunately, the hosts had not ordered quite enough of each item - making the usual assumption that some
people will have the lamb whilst others will want the chicken or the halloumi! However, as is so often the case most
people wanted loads of everything and before we knew it we had started to run short, even though we brought extra
quantities of everything along. As it turned out, the only people who didn't get to try the whole menu was the band
and the bar staff - so I think it all turned out more or less alright in the end.
Then it was time for desserts, tea, coffee, Turkish tea and the cheese display and that would have all gone
swimmingly well but for one small detail. The flood lighting installed all around the enormous garden wasn't
powerful enough and we were left trying to finish off in complete darkness. The hosts were extremely apologetic
and it wasn't at all their fault - just one of those things, I guess. However, we had a very hard time trying to prepare
and serve baklava and teas and coffees without any light and a couple of the team went home with sprained ankles
as a result of traipsing up and down the lawn trying to avoid the rabbit holes in the pitch darkness!
We arrived back at the restaurant a bit later than planned but all very pleased with what we had done in the
circumstances and the bride and groom were very happy, having given the team a tenner each extra tip and me a
fabulous bouquet which sadly got left behind because once I had put it down somewhere, I then couldn't find it again
in the non-existent light!! Oh well, the guests had a great day, the team were proud of their work and the bride and
groom were blissfully happy (although I have a sneaky suspicion that was not purely as a result of eating from our
bbq)! Thank you again Faye and Danny and all the best for the future.
planning their wedding reception! It was a daunting prospect - 150 person barbecue with hot and cold mezes,
baklava and Turkish tea. The kind of event you just have to get right! We were also to help with nibbles, cocktails,
wines, water on tables, champagne, fresh fruit salad and cheese display! We were going to need quite a team.
Megan, Adem, Sebbie, Val, Katie, Ryan and Stephie were all obvious first choices and the others were friends of the
family who were quite happy to be roped into a Silk Road 'road trip'. The above is a picture of the team before it all
started when everyone was clean and smiley and we hadn't yet been working for twelve hours!
The menu consisted of four different cold mezes on the tables followed by two hot ones, bread and olives. The main
courses were lamb chops, chicken shish and kofte kebabs, halloumi and vegetarian kebabs, falafel, salad and rice.
We had three large coal barbecues which were raging hot once lit and hot platters to take cooked lamb and
chicken, extra mezes and the salads etc. Everything went beautifully. The ceremony was held in the garden and
afterwards came the photos, the speeches and then the food.
People seemed to be coming up in their hundreds and I worried that we would struggle to keep up with them all.
Fortunately, Adem had made a good quantity which was constantly being used to top up the hot platters and Sebbe
and Michael did a grand job of serving everyone whilst finding time to chat and talk about the menu on offer.
Unfortunately, the hosts had not ordered quite enough of each item - making the usual assumption that some
people will have the lamb whilst others will want the chicken or the halloumi! However, as is so often the case most
people wanted loads of everything and before we knew it we had started to run short, even though we brought extra
quantities of everything along. As it turned out, the only people who didn't get to try the whole menu was the band
and the bar staff - so I think it all turned out more or less alright in the end.
Then it was time for desserts, tea, coffee, Turkish tea and the cheese display and that would have all gone
swimmingly well but for one small detail. The flood lighting installed all around the enormous garden wasn't
powerful enough and we were left trying to finish off in complete darkness. The hosts were extremely apologetic
and it wasn't at all their fault - just one of those things, I guess. However, we had a very hard time trying to prepare
and serve baklava and teas and coffees without any light and a couple of the team went home with sprained ankles
as a result of traipsing up and down the lawn trying to avoid the rabbit holes in the pitch darkness!
We arrived back at the restaurant a bit later than planned but all very pleased with what we had done in the
circumstances and the bride and groom were very happy, having given the team a tenner each extra tip and me a
fabulous bouquet which sadly got left behind because once I had put it down somewhere, I then couldn't find it again
in the non-existent light!! Oh well, the guests had a great day, the team were proud of their work and the bride and
groom were blissfully happy (although I have a sneaky suspicion that was not purely as a result of eating from our
bbq)! Thank you again Faye and Danny and all the best for the future.
Khaled, Male Belly Dancer Night Silk Road Restaurant, Littlehampton 31st October 2005 |
The Silk Road Restaurant on most days is nothing more than a beautiful Turkish/Mediterranean venue, creating
freshly prepared authentic cuisine in stunning surroundings and to the gentle hum of International background
music. However, it is touched by magic at the weekends, when it suddenly transforms itself into all the above and
more. Take Halloween night, for example.
In the dim candlelight sat motionless anticipation. A pin was heard to drop! A shimmering blue vision appeared
unexpectedly on the staircase, the restaurant swelling to the magnificent sounds of exotic Egyptian drums.
Suddenly, he was on the marble floor, twisting and turning, this way and that – dancing as if possessed – an elegant
sweat line forming on his brow. On his head, more magic! Six lit candles! How could that be? One by one, he
invited us to join him. Tables moved aside and previously well behaved ladies and refined gentlemen were taken
over by a mysterious disease – dancing with gay abandon!
We were all in there – no chefs in the kitchen, no-one behind the bar – it didn’t matter, they weren’t needed! Wolf
whistles and howls of laughter, clapping and more than a few moist backs. The music drifted away, platters
emerged from the kitchen by themselves, making their way to the Buffet Lounge - the steam rising to touch the
noses of the now seated and slightly awkward well behaved ladies and refined gentlemen.
Someone opened a window. Where were we? Oh Yes, I remember, Littlehampton.
Littlehampton – full of surprises!
freshly prepared authentic cuisine in stunning surroundings and to the gentle hum of International background
music. However, it is touched by magic at the weekends, when it suddenly transforms itself into all the above and
more. Take Halloween night, for example.
In the dim candlelight sat motionless anticipation. A pin was heard to drop! A shimmering blue vision appeared
unexpectedly on the staircase, the restaurant swelling to the magnificent sounds of exotic Egyptian drums.
Suddenly, he was on the marble floor, twisting and turning, this way and that – dancing as if possessed – an elegant
sweat line forming on his brow. On his head, more magic! Six lit candles! How could that be? One by one, he
invited us to join him. Tables moved aside and previously well behaved ladies and refined gentlemen were taken
over by a mysterious disease – dancing with gay abandon!
We were all in there – no chefs in the kitchen, no-one behind the bar – it didn’t matter, they weren’t needed! Wolf
whistles and howls of laughter, clapping and more than a few moist backs. The music drifted away, platters
emerged from the kitchen by themselves, making their way to the Buffet Lounge - the steam rising to touch the
noses of the now seated and slightly awkward well behaved ladies and refined gentlemen.
Someone opened a window. Where were we? Oh Yes, I remember, Littlehampton.
Littlehampton – full of surprises!
Serita wows the crowd! Every Weekend Silk Road Restaurant, Littlehampton |
Turkish carpets warm the marble floor, rich red velvet curtains lead the way to an exotic tented ceiling buffet lit by
candles and decorated with silver plates and coloured crystals, a belly dancer twirls and spins to a backdrop of
smiling faces and thunderous applause.
But this is not Turkey, nor Egypt – not even London. It was all happening in Littlehampton, of course, where The Silk
Road Restaurant was celebrating again only this time it was about 4 successful and fun-filled years, with the
promise of many more to come. 100 special guests & regular customers piled in, many of them clasping gifts, to
find themselves being treated to both male & female belly dancers with DJ hosting, a buffet spread of the most
deliciously aromatic dishes on the menu, and a night of dancing and unrivalled hospitality for which The Silk Road
Restaurant is fast becoming famous.
A word of advice – get to know this great little place – while you can!
Littlehampton Gazette, November 2004
candles and decorated with silver plates and coloured crystals, a belly dancer twirls and spins to a backdrop of
smiling faces and thunderous applause.
But this is not Turkey, nor Egypt – not even London. It was all happening in Littlehampton, of course, where The Silk
Road Restaurant was celebrating again only this time it was about 4 successful and fun-filled years, with the
promise of many more to come. 100 special guests & regular customers piled in, many of them clasping gifts, to
find themselves being treated to both male & female belly dancers with DJ hosting, a buffet spread of the most
deliciously aromatic dishes on the menu, and a night of dancing and unrivalled hospitality for which The Silk Road
Restaurant is fast becoming famous.
A word of advice – get to know this great little place – while you can!
Littlehampton Gazette, November 2004
Past events
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