Event: #GoogleCityExperts Dine The Decades

When the email came through to Google's City Experts announcing that their next event would be  called "Dine The Decades", I did a little out loud squeal. Food? History? In the same place? Yes please! Instructions were mysterious: meet underneath the Castle, and be transported back in time (via a vintage red bus and a magical mystery tour) to a secret location.

So much guessing. Excited giggles. Cheers as the bus made it up the biggest cobbled hill in Edinburgh without needing a push. And we arrived... at a factory on an industrial estate near the old harbour. 

But inside this converted lighthouse, a vintage fan's dream... 

Through the curtains to gasps of delight. Three tables, three zones, three decades. 

First up: 1910s. Bowls of fruit, glass vases, and entertainments. Flowers. Red wine punch. Beef shin pie, pickled vegetables, asparagus soup.  

Second round: 1940s. Rationing, garden flowers and memorabilia. Bunting. Millionaire's cocktails. Pork terrine, allotment vegetable salad, chutney and brown bread.

Third round: 1970s. Sideboards, floral patterns, board games. Sheepskin. Ramos Gin Fizz. Fondue, crudités, pineapple and cheese hedgehogs. 

To finish: a trio of mini deserts from the eras. Bakewell tart, jelly pots,  Black Forest gateau chocolates. 

I was in geek heaven. Jelly and Gin's food was delicious, the hosts (actors in period costume) were hilarious and the attention to detail was amazing - right down to the soda syphons behind the bar. Brilliant night.