Event Guide

A guide to our Home Comforts dinner party, including what to bring, how to prepare your dish and everything you need to know before you arrive.

THE VENUE

Bara Café
44–46 Choumert Road, Peckham, London SE15 4SE

13.11.2026
7:00pm - 11:00pm

We're heading to Bara Café in Peckham for our next dinner party, tucked away on Choumert Road, just a five minute walk from Peckham Rye station.

Getting there:

  • By train/ Overground: Peckham Rye is the closest station, around a five minute walk from the venue.

  • By bus: Routes 12, 36, 37, 63, 78, 197 and 343 serve the area around Peckham Rye.

  • By car: Parking in Peckham can be limited, so we'd recommend checking local parking restrictions and nearby car parks before travelling.

 

WHAT TO BRING

Bring a homemade comfort dish.

For our Home Comforts theme, take a favourite and make it your own. Give a childhood classic a makeover, put a twist on a family recipe or turn your go to comfort meal into something unexpected.

Traditional or a little out there, there's no right or wrong way to do comfort food.

If you're stuck for ideas, think:

  • A family recipe that's been passed down

  • Something you loved eating as a kid

  • A British classic

  • A dish inspired by your culture or heritage

  • A recipe you always go back to

  • Something cheesy, hearty or made for a cold evening

  • The meal you always make when you need a pick me up

How much food should I bring?

We'll have lots of different dishes to try, so you don't need to make a full serving for everyone.

As a rough guide, aim for around 15–20 small tasting portions or a medium sized sharing dish.

If you'd rather make a bigger batch, go for it! Everyone gets a takeaway container, so any leftovers can come home with you. Come for dinner, leave with lunch!

Please do any food prep at home before the event.

Dishes that can be served at room temperature are ideal, but we do have limited space for chilling and reheating if needed. If your dish needs warming through, please bring it in the dish you'll be reheating it in, ready to go, as we won't be able to do any food prep on site.

If you'll need to use the chilling or reheating facilities, just let us know when you submit your dish details so we can plan ahead.

FOOD SAFETY + ALLERGIES

Because we're all sharing homemade food, it's important that we know what's in each dish and that everyone takes care when preparing their food.

A few days before the event, we'll ask you to confirm what you're bringing and let us know about any allergens or dietary requirements. We'll use this information to prepare labels for the table, so everyone can make informed choices about what they eat.

Please read our full Food Safety & Allergen Guidance before preparing your dish. It covers everything you need to know about preparing, transporting and serving your food, as well as allergen advice.

When preparing your dish, please check your ingredients for these 14 allergens:

  • celery

  • cereals containing gluten (such as wheat, rye, barley and oats)

  • crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters)

  • eggs

  • fish

  • lupin (including lupin seeds and products made from them, like lupin flour)

  • milk

  • molluscs (such as mussels and oysters)

  • mustard

  • nuts, specifically tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts)

  • peanuts

  • sesame

  • soybeans

  • sulphur dioxide and sulphites  (at a concentration of more than ten parts per million)

  • Wash your hands, keep long hair tied back and use clean equipment and surfaces when preparing your food.

  • Keep your dish covered during transport.

  • Keep ingredients and prepared food stored safely.

  • If your dish needs to be kept chilled, let us know when you submit your dish information.

  • Please don't prepare food if you're feeling unwell.

  • Please bring your dish ready to serve wherever possible.

Preparing your dish

On the table

Every dish will have a card showing the dish name and any allergens we've been told it contains.

for example:

LEMON & BLUEBERRY CAKE

Contains: WHEAT • EGGS • MILK

The information on each card will be based on the information provided by the person who made the dish. If you have a food allergy, intolerance or dietary requirement, please always check the dish card before eating and speak to us if you're unsure.

Grab A Plate is a shared homemade food event, so dishes are prepared in people's home kitchens. While we'll provide the allergen information we've been given, we can't guarantee that food is completely free from traces of allergens or cross contamination.

WHAT TO EXPECT

ARRIVE & GET SETTLED

When you arrive, we'll show you where to put your dish and where to get a drink. The bar will be open throughout the event.

There'll be some time at the beginning to have a drink and meet the other guests before we start eating.

MEET SOME PEOPLE

We'll give everyone a chance to mingle before we eat.

If you're coming on your own, don't worry about arriving and having to figure out where to start. We'll help get things going.

GRAB A PLATE

Once everyone has arrived, we'll bring the dishes together and open up the table.

Take a plate, try what you fancy and help yourself throughout the evening. There'll be plenty of different things to try, so you don't need to commit to one dish.

STICK AROUND

We'll wrap things up at 10pm, but until then, there's plenty of time to have another drink, keep chatting and enjoy the evening.

If there's food left at the end, we'll have takeaway containers available so it doesn't go to waste.

COMING ON YOUR OWN?

You won't be the only one. A big part of Grab A Plate is meeting people you wouldn't otherwise have met. So don't worry about needing to know someone before you arrive

We'll help get conversations started at the beginning, then you can settle into the evening from there.

Questions before the event?
Drop us a message at jess@grabaplate.com