By Broke Dinner

I have known Steve Thompson on Facebook for several years but I have never eaten his food. When I heard he was doing a frequent event at Amphora wine bar on Mill Road my first reaction was ‘Where the frick is that? 🤔’. My second reaction was ‘Doesn’t matter, I need these eats’. I managed to secure a seat and I consider myself lucky because the event was fully booked.

I was met by the owner of the Wine Bar and host of the evening, a lovely lady by the name of Cong who was remarkably savvy and immaculately composed. Her control of the room and articulation surrounding all things wine were indicative of her pedigree and confidence. I must also point out that she was furiously witty and set the perfect tone for the evening.

Steve was working away getting everything ready in his shoebox dimensioned prep and service area. The room is small and the walls are decorated with wines, as was the table. It was a communal setting and I won’t lie, being the least wine knowledgeable in the room I tried my best to blend in by sniffing an empty wine glass to look like I knew a little bit about something. Sensing my inexperience, Cong poured me a glass of sour beer disarming my nerves. It worked, and we were now off to the races.

Each course is paired with two wines and a brief anecdote from Steve about the sourcing of ingredients. He is clearly an expert in his craft of foraging and makes it sound so easy as he describes himself walking through the woods and sifting through the forest floor to hand select what is often overlooked. I learned a lot that evening and ate things I didn’t know existed in most backyards. To be honest, I think most of the herbs actually came from his lawn BUT it didn’t matter. His alchemy needs no disclaimer, just consumers. And that, is what he had.

While I would normally critique the food, even as a friend I am critical, this evening was not so much about the food(which was incredible) and the wine(also incredible and I don’t even drink wine) but about the unique communal interaction and experience. I only knew one person when I arrived but upon leaving I made several pleasant acquaintances that all seemed to know each other already. They were welcoming, festive, charming, chatty, and engaged with the event. After each course we were asked which wine paired better with the meal and some decisions were unanimous, and others were controversial. Simply put, this was FUN.

I know I said I wouldn’t directly critique the food but I must point out that during the desert the room went curiously silent. I wasn’t speaking because I was thinking to myself ‘Holy f×÷k, this is LIT’ and I heard the lady exhale a thought that ‘this is like….michelin’, to which I replied ‘What do you mean ‘like’?’.

And that is exactly what it was, a michelin starred experience in a smart, cozy, communal wine bar. I cannot compliment this event enough because it was some of the most fun I have had in years at a dinner table. If I actually knew what I was doing when I was drinking wine then this would have possibly been a top 2 evening of my life. Or, if they had a sour beer pairing instead 🤤