Calon y Gegin: Calon Y Gegin Underground

Welcome to Calon y Gegin

Calon Y Gegin (meaning heart of the kitchen) is an underground or secret restaurant in Cardiff, it launched in March 2010 and at that time it was the first one of its kind in the area. In fact it still holds this unique title. Fellow foodies regularly gather at secret locations in Cardiff to enjoy sumptuous plates of food prepared using locally sourced and seasonal ingredients. Recently we have hosted vintage afternoon tea parties, lazy Sunday brunches, 4-course dinners and 7-course tasting menu events.

If you want to join us at our secret dining table become our friend on Facebook and you will receive invites to each event. Only when you accept the invite will you be given the secret location. People of all ages, backgrounds and interests looking for a new a culinary experience are joining us all the time. Underground dining is a exciting and new, reserve a secret seat and come and see for yourself.

Sunday, 21 March 2010

Calon Y Gegin Underground

We held our first underground restaurant night on Friday 19th March in a secret location in Cardiff and thanks to our wonderful guests and our superb helpers (M, E and R) it was a resounding success. We did feel a little nervous about the event beforehand, after but we agreed that a little bit of nerves is a good thing. We had fun trawling the local shops, the indoor market, suppliers and delis for the best, seasonal and locally produced foods and ingredients we could find. Sullivans and Fresh and Simple in Cardiff Market supplied all our fruit and veg and they were so helpful in getting things in especially for us when we couldn't find them on their stalls and Gary Anthony in the market, D's regular butcher, once again came up trumps with the most amazing lamb and gammon ham. The Really Welsh food company helped us with our puddings by supplying us with yummy Welsh ice cream with great names like Swirley Bassey and Why, Why, Why vanilla!

The night itself was brilliant! As we prepared, cooked, fussed and plated up in the kitchen we were encouraged by the noise of the laughter emanating from our guests in the dining room and the empty plates that were returned to the kitchen (some of them even looked like they'd been licked clean!).

One of our guests, a trainee journalist at Cardiff Univeristy's prestigious School of Journalism, will be publishing an ariticle on Calon Y Gegin Underground early next week (we'll post the link once the article is out). Next time we host an underground evening we'd like to invite Horseradish on Toast, a local food blogger, to review our food (more nerves!).

It was hard work but fun and it was the first of many underground events to come. Have a look at the pictures from the evening and the comment cards that guests filled in and watch our blog and facbook page for details of the next underground event. Thanks again to everyone who helped us make our first night a memorable success!