Reservations Platform Resy Brings Its Popular The Women Of Food Dinner Series – which Vogue Called A Dinner Series “Changing the Culinary Status Quo” – To London This Autumn

LONDON (Tuesday, October 8, 2019) — Resy, the NYC-based reservations platform that powers many of the world’s best restaurants, including 100 of the UK’s top restaurants, today announces it will bring its popular The Women Of Food dinner series to London this autumn in partnership with American Express. Following its 2018 debut in San Francisco, and multi-city US tour in 2019, the Women of Food London marks the series’ international debut and Resy’s first events outside the U.S.

With The Women of Food London, Resy aims to champion the female chefs, owners, and operators at the forefront of London’s restaurant scene, and to create a platform that shines a light on them.  The dinners will include not only bespoke food and drink, but also chef-driven dialogue, as each night is anchored by a topic selected by- and important to them. Additionally, each host chef will invite a woman they admire to join them as a collaborator, in the spirit of community. 

Tickets are now on sale in the Resy app and at resy.com/womenoffoodUK for American Express® Card Members, who get exclusive 48 hours access to early bookings.* Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, October 10th at 9am GMT. Full Series Schedule below. 

The Women Of Food London series will kick off on November 6th with a dinner at Chef Asma Khan’s Soho Indian restaurant Darjeeling Express, which is inspired by the Indian supper clubs she grew up with in her family home in Calcutta. Khan will be joined by Chef Mandy Yin of  Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar, one of the few Malaysian chef/owners in the UK. Together they will host an intimate evening themed “An Immigrant Love Letter.” Throughout the dinner they will share their own, personal immigrant experiences, and how  food is such a powerful vehicle to them in expressing their identities. 

Next up, on November 19th, Chef Margot Henderson – one of London’s most influential chefs for the past 20+ years – along with partner Melanie Arnold will host an evening at Rochelle ICA, an extension of Rochelle Canteen located at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, and a historic location that has been the social centre of the ICA for many years. Inspired by their contemporary art surrounding, the pair will join forces with artists Sheelagh Boyce and Annabelle Harty of Arrange Whatever Pieces Come Your Way, a collection of quilts best described as ‘material artworks.’ Both food and quilts have the ability to tell unique, layered stories, that draw inspiration from many cultures, and as such, their dinner themed around “Feasting” will bring groups together around the table, sharing stories and feasting upon some of Margot’s signature dishes. The evening is sure to be a multi-disciplinary treat for food and art lovers alike where they can connect over large platters made using the best seasonal produce.

“Art and food is a timeless partnership. We have worked with Sheelagh and Annabelle before and each of their beautiful quilts have a unique story to tell. In a way, they represent a similar ethos as to what are doing at Rochelle, weaving different cultures, ingredients and ideas together to create something a little special. We wanted to share this with our guests and what better way to do so than with good food, lots of wine and Sheelagh and Annabelle’s art,” say Margot and Melanie.

To close out the London run, on November 26th the Tart London duo of Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison will give guests a taste of their brand new Belgravia hotspot Wild by Tart, which will get even hotter as they collaborate with woodfire- focused chef Gioconda Scott, of Hotel Trasierra in Seville, Spain, and one of the founding members of the Slow Food movement in Spain. After meeting – and becoming fast fans of each other – the women knew they had to do something together. Their dinner, themed “Into The Wild,” will center around cooking with fire and charcoal.  The dinner, the chefs explain, is a loving nod to cooking in the wild – foraging seasonal produce, cooking over smoky wood fires and sizzling coals, and honouring animals through simple cooking,

“An integral part of Wild by Tart is to create a nurturing work environment for our staff, with an atmosphere where people feel happy and confident. Gioconda is a chef  we have always been inspired by, because she has a similar love of seasonal, wild produce and cooking. We cannot wait to fire up the wood burner with her, and Resy’s Women of Food series provides the perfect platform for this,” say Jones and Carr-Ellison.

Resy’s Women Of Food series debuted in San Francisco in 2018 in collaboration with Chef Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn) – the first female chef in the United States to be awarded three Michelin stars – who was interested in using her platform to spotlight trailblazing female chefs and entrepreneurs. Resy and Crenn partnered to curate a year-long dinner series featuring Niki Nakayama (n/naka, Los Angeles), Judy Joo (Jinjuu, London and Hong Kong), Barbara Lynch (No. 9 Park, Boston) and Nancy Silverton (Mozza Restaurant Group, Los Angeles) – tickets to all of the dinners sold out in under 90 seconds.

For year two, Resy expanded the program nationally to seven U.S. cities – LA (Jessica Koslow), Atlanta (Anne Quatrano), Boston (Karen Akunowicz), Chicago (Debbie Gold), Nashville (Sarah Gavigan), New York City (Missy Robbins), and Washington, D.C. (Seng Luangrath) – and again, tickets sold out almost instantly. Vogue US called The Women Of Food “a dinner series changing the culinary status quo.”

“Over the last five years Resy has grown into more than a reservations platform. We are an international group of chefs and diners, who are passionate about food as culture. The Women of Food series allow us to bring this community together to have meaningful dialogue, and to champion trailblazers in the industry.” said Resy CEO Ben Leventhal.

Since debuting in London in October 2017, Resy has become the go-to reservations platform for some of the city’s best restaurants, and the app of choice for discerning diners looking for London’s most coveted tables. Since its beginnings with outstanding independent restaurants like the Michelin-starred Leroy and Sager + Wilde, Resy’s offering has expanded to include some of London’s most exciting names, like Tayēr + Elementary, Ikoyi, Cornerstone, Kebab Queen and more. 

The Women Of Food London Series Schedule:

• Wednesday, November 6th, 7pm – Asma Khan, Darjeeling Express
  • Theme: An Immigrant Love Letter
  • Collaborator: Chef Mandy Yin, Chef-Owner of Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar
• Tuesday, November 19th, 7pm – Margot Henderson & Melanie Arnold, Rochelle ICA
  • Theme: TBC
  • Collaborators: Sheelagh Boyce and Annabelle Harty, Artists, Whatever Pieces Come Your Way

• Tuesday, November 26th, 7pm – Jemima Jones & Lucy Carr-Ellison, Wild by Tart
  • Theme: Into The Wild
  • Collaborator: Gioconda Scott, Chef-Owner of Hotel Trasierra in Seville, Spain; founding member of the Slow Food Movement in Southern Spain

To Purchase Tickets: 

Tickets can be purchased at resy.com/womenoffoodUK or via the Resy app for £85/person. Ticket price includes food, beverages, and service. Each dinner begins at 7PM, and seating may be communal.

Starting Tuesday, October 8th at 9am GMT, American Express® Card Members get exclusive 48 hours early access* to tickets. To purchase a ticket, add an American Express Card to your Resy account and purchase your ticket with your American Express Card. Tickets are first-come, first-served. Remaining tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, October 10th at 9am GMT.

Must be of legal age to consume alcoholic beverages. Please drink responsibly.

*During the specified early sales period, tickets are available exclusively to American Express Card Members. Tickets must be purchased with an American Express Card. Standard service charges apply. Offer is subject to availability. All sales final. No refunds. No exchanges. Offer may be changed or revoked at any time at the sole discretion of American Express. 

ABOUT RESY

Resy is a hospitality technology company, built for and powered by restaurant lovers, that connects the world’s most sought-after restaurants with the best guests around the globe. 

Resy offers superior reservation management software and a consumer-facing restaurant reservation app to elevate and enhance dining experiences worldwide. Resy works with approximately 5,000 restaurants in 160+ global markets, seating over 3.5 million diners a week. Resy boasts an industry-low, global no-show rate of approximately 2%.

Consumers can book and manage reservations on Resy.com and on the app from a carefully curated selection of the world’s most distinguished restaurants, including Nightshade in Los Angeles, Frenchette in New York City, and Thayer + Elementary in London. Users now have even better access to restaurants thanks to an enhanced Notify waitlist system, which sends alerts when hard-to-get reservations become available. The app is free and available for download on both iOS and Android.

Resy was co-founded by Ben Leventhal, cofounder of Eater and restaurant industry entrepreneur; Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur, investor, author; and Michael Montero, founder of CrowdTwist and Fotolog and noted CTO. Resy was acquired by American Express in July 2019.

ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS

American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success.  Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress, and youtube.com/americanexpress.

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